Ornette Coleman was an American jazz musician and composer, acclaimed as a pioneering force in free jazz. Born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1930, he self-taught the saxophone as a teenager and began his career in local R and B and bebop circles. In the late 1950s, Coleman moved to Los Angeles, forming a groundbreaking group with musicians like Don Cherry and Charlie Haden. His 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation gave a name to the new, experimental style that rejected traditional harmony and fixed rhythm, instead focusing on group improvisation and blues influence. Coleman's music was initially controversial but later celebrated for its innovation, influencing the direction of jazz throughout the 1960s and beyond. Compositions like Lonely Woman and Broadway Blues became classics of the genre. Over the decades, Coleman pushed creative boundaries, exploring orchestral formats, electric jazz-funk with his group Prime Time, and developing his unique harmolodic approach. His work earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2006, marking him as one of jazz’s most original and influential figures.