I'm not a big fan of free jazz. Of course, some great artists have done amazing things with the genre, but as a whole I don't think free jazz makes for an enjoyable listening experience. Maybe my mind is in the wrong place or I just haven't been exposed to enough of it, but that's my personal opinion. However, on a different note, free jazz has helped to create some incredible music that doesn't necessarily fit under the free jazz umbrella. For instance, it would be impossible to deny the influence free jazz had on musicians like Charles Mingus and Thelonious monk, to name just a couple. Of course, musicians like Mingus and Monk not only were influenced by free jazz, but influenced the genre itself.
I see Ornette Coleman and free jazz in the 1950s and early 60s as a genre that pushed jazz too far, so far that there had to be some sort of counter reaction by other musicians. This reaction, in my opinion, is what helped to create some of Mingus's best work in the 60s, as well as a slew of other artists' albums from that decade.
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