In the 1960s, many artists--most notably John Coltrane--became fed up with traditional forms of jazz and began exploring the boundaries of sound and improvisation. Artists like Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman came to the same conclusions from different backgrounds, eschewing traditional harmony and melody and improvising with a raw, focused sense of emotion. Further artists such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eric Dolphy, and Pharoah Sanders extended the techniques of their instruments, improvising with a fury that, while hard for mainstream critics to take, was instrumental in furthering the processes of jazz.

Notable Artists: Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp