We discuss the network of Downtown Jazz Lofts created by experimental musicians in Manhattan in the early 1970s. We  examine how the spirit of independence and artistic adventure dovetailed with a determined organisation by jazz musicians to create an alternative to the traditional music industry platforms. These factors culminated in the formation of the New York Musicians Organisation (NYMO) and the counter-festival staged by the NYMO to challenge the imposition of the Newport Jazz Festival which was held in New York City for the first time in 1972. The growth and decline of the Jazz Loft scene is representative of the changing economic conditions of the City at this time, and how the ethics of Black Nationalism were adopted by many Jazz musicians as a central part of their personal and musical identity. Books "Loft Jazz: Improvising New York in the 1970s" by Michael C Heller. "As Serious As Your Life: Black Music and the Free Jazz Revolution: 1957-1977" by Val Wilmer. "Love Goes To Buildings On Fire" by Will Hermes. Music 'Tranquility' - Sam Rivers (Crystals) / 'Crossing (Fourth Movement' - Cecil Taylor (Silent Tongues) / 'Hence Forth' - Roy Ayers (Red, Black & Green) / 'Blue Phase' - Ahmed Abdullah (Wildflowers 3 - The New York Loft Jazz Sessions) / 'Four Winds' - Dave Holland Quartet (A Conference of the Birds) / 'You Gotta Have Freedom' - Pharaoh Sanders (Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1980) / 'Marshmallow' - Anthony Braxton (In the Tradition) EMCK