More than 50 years after Ornette Coleman changed the course of music with The Shape of Jazz to Come, the avant-garde patriarch remains an elusive genius whose work defies neat categories. While he coined the term “free jazz” with his classic 1960 double quartet album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, he’s a composer of expansive ambition whose tunes have become essential touchstones in the jazz canon. His melodic imagination often seems limitless, as he regularly introduces dozens of new tunes with slippery, careening singsong lines. And though he’s known as one of the most sophisticated and controversial innovators in jazz, his music is equally steeped in the raw looseness of the blues. In 2007, he became only the second jazz musician ever to win a Pulitzer Prize in addition to receiving a Grammy award for lifetime achievement. Ars Nova Workshop, the Painted Bride Art Center, and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound are pleased to present this very special double-header in celebration of Ornette Coleman’s 84th birthday and 55th anniversary of his arrival in New York City and historic debut at The Five Spot. Celebrating Ornette will feature two unique ensembles, both deeply connected to Ornette’s incomparable past, present and future.