Ornette Coleman was called “an eccentric when he was young and a genius when he was old,” music critic John Rockwell says insightfully about the ever-groundbreaking jazz saxophonist and composer in this 1984 documentary film directed by Shirley Clarke. That he was actually still both at the time is borne out whenever Coleman reaches for his horn and allows the spontaneity to flow, and it’s undeniably the vintage footage (particularly the late ‘60s clips featuring bassist Charlie Haden and Coleman’s young drummer son, Denardo) that induces the largest goosebumps. But the often-hallucinatory non-performance segments are equally revealing: Clarke accentuates Ornette’s personality via a nonlinear structure similar to a Coleman musical work, full of sharp turns, unexpected jolts and unshackled creativity. The usual music-doc elements—the return to the childhood home, the reminiscences and critical plaudits—are all here along with the brilliant performances (Coleman with symphony orchestra is jaw-dropping) but they’re woven in artfully in a way that makes Ornette: Made in America an experience quite apart from that of watching most other entries in its genre.