Ornette Coleman, creator of harmolodics, and a founding father of the avant-garde jazz movement, turns 80 years old today, March 9th, 2010.

Peter Hum at the Ottawa Citizen gathers musings on the iconic saxophonist by a handful of jazz greats. Howard Mandel at Jazz Beyond Jazz also reflects on Coleman's career, and points out that despite its exploration of untrod earth, his music was rooted in the blues.

Image © Juan-Carlos Hernandez

Growing up in Brooklyn, pianist Randy Weston developed an early career as an R & B sideman. After a mentorship with Thelonious Monk, he became known for his bebop playing. Then, inspired by trips to Africa, elements of traditional and popular African styles crept into his music. At nearly 84 years old, Weston is still toying with the fusion of these genres.

Later this year, Weston's autobiography, African Rhythms (written with help from Willard Jenkins at The Independent Ear), will be published by Duke University Press.

Image Courtesy of Mosaic Select Records

Sonny Rollins was named the 51st recipient of the Edward MacDowell Medal, an award given annually to an artist who has contributed greatly to his field. Rollins will be the first jazz musician to receive the medal, whose list of recipients includes Leonard Bernstein, Georgia O'Keefe, John Updike, and Merce Cunningham.

The award will be presented on August 15th, 2010, at the MacDowell Artist Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Jazz writer Gary Giddins, who was on the committee that selected Rollins, will introduce Rollins, and speak about his career at the ceremony. The following month, on September 7th, Rollins will turn 80 years old.

Image © Juan Carlos Hernandez

Check out the first installment in an 11-or-so part series, "Jazz History by Decade." Take a look at the years between 1900 and 1910, when the creole language of Jelly Roll Morton's ragtime was paving the way for early jazz styles.

Coming up next: 1910-1920 - the decade in which the first jazz recording was made.

Image Courtesy of Milestone Records