Cherry grew up in Oklahoma City and came of age in Los Angeles, where he fell in with Ornette Coleman in the late 1950s. That partnership produced some of the most startling records in jazz history, but Cherry was never just a sideman. He had his own sound from the start: a small, slightly brassy pocket trumpet tone that could sound playful and searching at once.
After the Coleman years, Cherry did something most musicians of his generation didn't — he left. Not out of frustration, but curiosity. He spent years moving through Europe, Africa, and Asia, studying music traditions that had nothing to do with jazz in any conventional sense. By the time he resurfaced on records in the late 1960s, he was playing something that didn't have a clean name yet. Eternal Rhythm (1969) is a good place to hear what that period produced — a long, sprawling session recorded in Germany with musicians from multiple continents. Relativity Suite (1973) takes a similar approach and holds together even better, with Charlie Haden anchoring the low end.
His later work, like the trio Codona he formed with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, pushed further into folk and world territory — some listeners find it deeply satisfying, others too diffuse. Cherry was never chasing commercial appeal, and he wasn't being willfully obscure either. He genuinely believed the music was connected.
The best way in remains Complete Communion (1966), where he leads a small group and hits a balance between freedom and focus he rarely topped elsewhere. Full catalog on his artist page.