Henry Threadgill's music might best be described by the name of his band: Very Very Circus. His circus of sound combines traditional jazz instruments with strings, accordions, and tubas, and integrates influences from Mexico, Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. Out of this eccentric multiplicity emerges an

Collage, Composed, Contemporary/downtown, Eclectic, Layered, Polychromatic, Sophisticated

There are two mutually exclusive opinions regarding jazz musician Ornette Coleman. By some he is considered a visionary genius, representing the "third spur" of the Modernist revolution -- "a shift in approach to melody and rhythm to match Coltrane's skyscraping harmonics and Cecil Taylor's introduct

Deconstructive, Formless, Free/avant-garde, Hard bop/post-bop, Layered, Polychromatic, Sprawling

Bernard Herrmann wrote scores for over 40 movies, providing music for films by Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. From his first film, "Citizen Kane," to his last, "Taxi Driver," Herrmann heightened psychological nuance and dramatic tension with sound, often using

Dense, Polychromatic, Sophisticated

According to Gene Santoro, John Zorn's "idiosyncratic mixtures of musical genres reflect the way popular music is currently transmitted from one culture to another...eclectic is far too weak a word to describe his intensely demanding yet playful sonic assaults." John Zorn's work doesn't simply titill

Cartoonish, Collage, Contemporary/downtown, Excessive, Free jazz, Free/avant-garde, Polychromatic, Psychedelic, Quirky