- Ornette Coleman: - 1930 - 2015 - known for his use of a plastic saxophone - "leader" of the free jazz movement with unorthodox use of harmony, chord progressions, raw tone, and multiphonics - Pulitzer Prize winner
- John Coltrane: - 1926 - 1967 - one of the most influential and adventurous saxophonists in the 1950s and '60s - put forth the belief that music has the power to heal (religious intensity through modal jazz)
- Pharoah Sanders: - 1940 - present - before he met fellow jazz artist Sun Ra, he was impoverished and homeless - used many types of special effects, as well as experimenting with vairous Middle Eastern, African, and Asian styles