From the NYT article:
His own music, then and later, embodied a new type of folk song. . .
I would never call Ornette’s music folk (big point) and as far as I know, he never wrote any lyrics (nitpicking). I haven’t heard anything he’s made since the 70’s, but I always found his music very challenging to listen to. That’s not a bad thing, as I like a lot of noisy music. His music never spoke to me, but I’ve always had a lot of respect for Ornette and Don Cherry. Gotta love the white plastic sax and pocket trumpet, almost as iconic as Dizzy’s trumpet.