Ornette Coleman

Jazz: Season 1: Episode 9 -- For jazz, the late 1950s is a period of transition when old stars like Billie Holiday and Lester Young will burn out while young talents arise to take the music in new directions. New virtuosos push the limits of bebop: saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins; jazz diva Sarah Vaughan; and the drummer Art Blakey. But the leading light of the era is Miles Davis whose lush recordings expand the jazz audience; and a cultural icon whose tough-guy charisma comes to define what's hip. As the turbulent Sixties arrive, two saxophonists take jazz into uncharted terrain. John Coltrane explodes the pop tune My Favorite Things, while Ornette Coleman challenges all conventions with a sound he calls 'free jazz.'

William S. Burroughs' bizarre semi-autobiographical 1959 account of an aspiring New York City writer's immersion into the seamy drug underworld, as seen under the influence.

Lee's father provided the inspiration for this look at a young black jazz trumpeter and his relationships with two women. Soundtrack by Branford Marsalis!

Anything can happen when the nerds are alone.