Renowned Danish free improv saxophone pioneer John Tchicai (pictured left), has died aged 76. Tchicai had been in a coma since suffering a brain hemorrhage in June, and according to his former wife Margriet Naber Tchicai, died in hospital on 7 October.

Born to a Danish mother and a Congolese father in Copenhagen on April 28, 1936, Tchicai first made a name for himself in northern Europe, before moving to New York, then back to Denmark, and subsequently California before returning to Europe in 2001, eventually settling in the south of France. His career saw him become widely associated with leading names of jazz’s avant garde while he also played with John Coltrane, Milford Graves, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow. He’s perhaps best remembered for his time in New York during the 1960s free jazz explosion, where he co-founded The New York Contemporary Five with Archie Shepp and Don Cherry, as well as recording with Albert Ayler, John Lennon and most notably John Coltrane on his landmark album, Ascension.

After just three prolific years in the city, he returned to Denmark in 1966 where he set up the large jazz workshop ensemble Cadentia Nova Danica, which he ran until 1971. Reducing his live performances but recording regularly as well as teaching from the late-1970s onwards he produced a prolific body of work, while in 1990 he received a lifetime grant for jazz performance from the Danish Ministry of Culture, and a year later moved to San Francisco’s Bay Area where along with his wife Mariet, also a keyboard player, they formed John Tchicai & the Archetypes and the John Tchicai Unit.

Leading British improv drummer Trevor Watts paid tribute to Tchicai, telling Jazzwise:

“I first heard John in the 1960s. He'd made a very interesting recording with Roswell Rudd and the New York Art Quartet. I liked the sound and style, even though it wasn't exactly what I was looking for at the time it still connected in its own way as something quite fresh and unique. And John definitely had his own signature sound, which is what many of us strive for.

“I played with John at Cambridge 1968. That was an all day improvising jam at the University with a cast of thousands including, Willem Breuker, John Tchicai, Chris McGregor, John Stevens, Yoko Ono, Mongezi Feza and John Lennon to name a few of the many players who performed on that event. It was organised by Anthony Barnett of Better Books who also had performances of music in the cellar below the shop! Sad to see John go, and that his voice is not around anymore. A shame!”

– Mike Flynn