Trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon would be celebrating his 100th birthday this week, if he didn’t pass away in his sleep back in 2010 at the age of 84.
While he’s not quite the household name of some of the other musicians from the early free jazz era (such as Cecil Taylor or Archie Shepp) his influence on jazz music is pretty large. He was an originator of the style and worked tirelessly to bring the music to the masses through things like his October Revolution in Jazz concert in 1964 and the formation of the Jazz Composers Guild.
Phil Freeman’s Substack Burning Ambulance posted a great writeup on the live and career of Bill Dixon that is worth reading.
Additionally, NYU Libraries just opened an exhibition on Bill Dixon’s work called Working On & Out Things: Selections from the Bill Dixon Papers that runs through January 26, 2026 that I’d love to check out.
I mentioned Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor above because Bill Dixon played with both of them early in their careers. He performed on Taylor’s Conquistador! and had top billing on Archie Shepp’s first record in 1963. That record included an excellent cover of Ornette Coleman’s “Peace”:
Bill Dixon was booked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. He brought with him a big band including Ken McIntyre on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Louis Brown on tenor saxophone, Bob Cunningham on bass, Tom Price on drums and dancer Judith Dunn. The set consisted of a ton of thorough-composed, six movement piece of music called “Pomegranate” along with some free jazz inspired solos. It serves as a great precursor to his next studio record. I wish there was video footage of the music because I’d love to see the dancing, but this audio recording of the performance is still incredible. I’m extremely glad it exists. Thanks, internet!
The next record was 1967’s Intents and Purposes which is today’s pick!
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Ther really was not another record like Intents and Purposes at the time and it still is very unique nearly 60 years later. It consists of two long pieces, the first of which is “Metamorphosis 1962-1966”. Clocking in at over 13 minutes it is Bill Dixon’s masterpiece. Equally ominous and fiery the song is a thrilling combination of free jazz and chamber music. It helps that the large 10 piece ensemble consists of 3 bass players along with a cello essentially forming a string quartet. It also includes a pummeling drum and percussion duet in the middle which really shakes things up!
The other long piece is “Voices” and it is more funky with a stronger presence from the drums, but still keeps the classical music / free jazz hybrid intact. Bill Dixon’s equally somber and shrill trumpet adds a lot of tension to the proceedings.
The other two songs on the album are much shorter, less than four minues apiece. They are essentially duets between Bill Dixon and George Marge but they contain overdubs of each player giving it a much fuller sound (Dixon plays trumpet and flugelhorn, Marge plays English horn and flute).
Even though Intents and Purposes overall is very short, it packs a ton of ideas into its half hour duration. There’s a lot to contemplate and chew on. It is a classic that deserves wider recognition with others from the same era. It ranks right up there with A Love Supreme and Bitches Brew in my mind.
Sadly, Intents and Purposes does not appear to be available on Apple Music or Amazon Music, so links this week only include Spotify and Tidal.
