Organization of Women Writers of Africa
| Jayne Cortez | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Sallie Jayne Richardson |
| Born |
May 10, 1934 Fort Huachuca, Arizona |
| Died | December 28, 2012 (aged 78) Manhattan, New York |
| Genres | Avant-garde jazz, Free jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Jazz poet, spoken word artist, writer, small press publisher |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1964–2012 |
| Labels | Bola Press, Strata-East Records, Verve Records, Giorno Poetry Systems |
| Associated acts | The Firespitters, Ornette Coleman, Denardo Coleman, Bern Nix, Bobby Bradford, Ron Carter, James Blood Ulmer, Al MacDowell |
| Website | JayneCortez08.com |
Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and visceral sound. Her writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She was married to jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman (1954–64), and their son is jazz drummer Denardo Coleman. In 1975 Cortez married painter, sculptor, and printmaker Melvin Edwards, and they lived in Dakar, Senegal, and New York City.
Jayne Cortez was born Sallie Jayne Richardson on the Army base at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on May 10, 1934. Her father was a career soldier who would serve in both world wars; her mother was a secretary.
At the age of seven, she moved to Los Angeles, where she grew up in the Watts district. Young Jayne Richardson reveled in the jazz and Latin recordings that her parents collected. She studied art, music and drama in high school and later attended Compton Community College. She took the surname Cortez, the maiden name of her maternal grandmother, early in her artistic career.
In 1954, Cortez married jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman when she was 18 years old. Their son Denardo, born in 1956, began drumming with his father while still a child and devoted his adult life to collaborating with both parents in their respective careers. In 1964, Cortez divorced Coleman and founded the Watts Repertory Theater Company, of which she served as artistic director until 1970. Active in the struggle for Civil Rights, she strongly advocated using art as a vehicle to push political causes, with her work being used to register black voters in Mississippi in the early 1960s. She traveled through Europe and Africa, and moved to New York City in 1967.
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