Clifford Thornton

One of the most underrated and criminally overlooked free jazz trumpet/trombone players remains to be Clifford Thornton. Born in Philadelphia sometime in 1936, Thornton studied with hard bop trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:3ZUZYvTkSr7kJQyAXVpqaL">Donald Byrd</a> during the mid-'50s and played with numerous other jazz musicians, including the great tuba player <a href="spotify:artist:1ld2BKxSBwrYq2mVGR5rww">Ray Draper</a>. After joining the army, Thornton settled down in New York City -- appearing on albums by other artists (<a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX">Sun Ra</a>'s Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, <a href="spotify:artist:1sEOsClatR9SKKmELXJVUJ">Sunny Murray</a>'s Homage to Africa, etc.). But Thornton wasn't entirely satisfied with being just a hired gun, as he became a composer, teacher, and bandleader on his own, issuing several out-of-print solo albums during this time, as well as creating his own record label, Third World Records. It's his late-'60s/early-'70s recordings that are widely regarded as his finest -- including 1967's Freedom & Unity (recorded the day after <a href="spotify:artist:2hGh5VOeeqimQFxqXvfCUf">John Coltrane</a>'s funeral) and 1972's Communications. Thornton wasn't afraid to voice his political views either, which got him banned from France when they suspected he was a Black Panther. Thornton eventually relocated to Europe, where he died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1989. In 2001, Freedom & Unity was reissued on the Atavistic label. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi