Val Wilmer

Foreword by Richard WilliamsAuthor's Prefatory NoteIntroduction A State of MindPART ONE INNOVATORS AND INNOVATIONS1 Great Black Music - From a Love Supreme to the Sex Machine2 John Coltrane - A Love Supreme3 Cecil Taylor - Eighty-Eight Tuned Drums4 Ornette Coleman - The Art of the Improviser5 Sun Ra - Pictures of Infinity6 Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity7 The AACM - Chicago's Alternative SocietyPART TWO WHO ARE THE NEW MUSICIANS?8 As Serious As Your LifePART THREE GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME!9 The Spirit Behind the Musicians10 A Family of RhythmsPART FOUR WOMAN'S ROLE11 It Takes Two People to Confirm the Truth12 'You Sound Good - for a Woman!'PART FIVE THE CONSPIRACY AND SOME SOLUTIONS13 Bill Dixon and the Jazz Composers Guild14 Politics, the Media and Collectivism15 Recording - Getting the Music Out There16 Does the Music Have a Future?BiographiesBibliographyAcknowledgementsIndex of Names

In this classic account of the new black music of the 1960s and 70s, celebrated photographer and jazz historian Val Wilmer tells the story of how a generation of revolutionary musicians established black music as the true vanguard of American culture.Placing the achievements of African-American artists such as Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sun Ra in their broader political and social context, Wilmer evokes an era of extraordinary innovation and experimentation that continues to inspire musicians today.As vital now as when it was first published in 1977, As Serious As Your Life is the essential story of one of the most dynamic musical movements of the twentieth century.