Let the Chaos Calm You: ep. 7 – Early European Free Jazz

During the 50s and 60s, American free jazz was trying to free itself from the limitations of Modal Jazz and Hard Bop, but still kept many crucial Jazz characteristics like swinging rhythm or melodic vocabulary, while European free jazz moved much further from the jazz tradition and got rid of many of the American jazz characteristics and instead employed elements from European contemporary classical music.
European free jazz often lacks swinging rhythm, takes much more liberties with use of atonality and noise, and even uses „extended techniques” to create unusual sounds. European free jazz was crucial in the development of Free Improvisation and many of its musicians later practically moved away from jazz completely.