Punk Jazz

7 profiles tagged Punk Jazz, A-Z.

Punk jazz developed in New York's No Wave scene in the late 1970s, most notably through saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, whose band the Contortions fused free jazz improvisation, inspired by Ornette Coleman, with punk rock's aggression, short song forms, and raw performance energy; their 1979 album Buy is often cited as the style's defining early document. It is distinguished by dissonant, skronking saxophone over stripped-down, high-energy punk or funk rhythm sections. James Chance and the Contortions remain the genre's central and most closely identified act.