The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the late 1960s.[1] The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little instruments": bells, bicycle horns, birthday party noisemakers, wind chimes, and various forms of percussion. The musicians would wear costumes and face paint while performing. These characteristics combined to make the ensemble's performances both aural and visual. While playing in Europe in 1969, five hundred instruments were used.[2]
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Art Ensemble of Chicago, New Jazz Festival Moers (Moers Festival), 1978
Members of what was to become the Art Ensemble performed together under various band names in the mid-sixties, as members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). They performed on the 1966 album Sound, as the Roscoe Mitchell Sextet. The Sextet included saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, trumpeter Lester Bowie, and bassist Malachi Favors. For the next year, they played as the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. In 1967, they were joined by fellow AACM members Joseph Jarman (saxophone) and Phillip Wilson (drums) and recorded for Nessa Records.
All of the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. Jarman and Mitchell's primary instruments were alto and tenor saxophone, respectively, but they played other saxophones (from the small sopranino to the large bass saxophone), and the flute and clarinet. In addition to trumpet, Bowie played flugelhorn, cornet, shofar, and conch shells. Favors added touches of banjo and bass guitar. Most of them dabbled in piano, synthesizer, and other keyboards, and they all played percussion instruments.
They were known for wearing costumes and makeup on stage. Member Joseph Jarman described part of their style:
So what we were doing with that face painting was representing everyone throughout the universe, and that was expressed in the music as well. That's why the music was so interesting. It wasn't limited to Western instruments, African instruments, or Asian instruments, or South American instruments, or anybody's instruments.[3]
In 1967, Wilson left the group to join Paul Butterfield's band, and for a period the group was a quartet without a full-time drummer. Jarman and Mitchell served as artistic directors at the cooperative summer camp Circle Pines Center in Delton, Michigan, in August of 1968, during the same week that the Democratic Convention was in Chicago. After a farewell concert at the Unitarian Church in Evanston, Illinois, in fall, 1968, the remaining group traveled to Paris.[4] In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre des Vieux Colombier.[5][6] In France, they became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The impetus for the name change came from a French promoter who added "of Chicago" to their name for descriptive purposes, but the new name stuck because band members felt that it better reflected the cooperative nature of the group. In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre des Vieux Colombier [7] and they recorded for the Freedom and BYG labels. They also recorded Comme à la radio with Brigitte Fontaine and Areski Belkacem but without a drummer until percussionist Don Moye became a member of the group in 1970. During that year, they recorded the albums Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass and Les Stances a Sophie with singer Fontella Bass, who was Lester Bowie's wife. The latter was the soundtrack from the French movie of the same title.
Lester Bowie died of liver cancer in 1999.[8] Malachi Favors died in 2004 of pancreatic cancer.[9] Joseph Jarman died on January 9, 2019, of respiratory failure.[10][11]
As of 2017-2019 Mitchell and Moye remained active, with new and previous collaborators as guest under the name Art Ensemble of Chicago - 50th Anniversary Large Ensemble. They released an album in 2019:[12][13][14][15]
Steinbeck, Paul. Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago. University of Chicago Press, 2017.
Lewis, George E.A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music. University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Shipton, Alyn. A New History of Jazz. London: Continuum, 2001.
FilmsEdit
1982 - Great Black Music - The Art Ensemble of Chicago Television documentary broadcast by Channel 4 in November 1982.
1982 - Live From the Jazz Showcase: The Art Ensemble of Chicago (directed by William J Mahin, the University of Illinois at Chicago). Filmed at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, November 1, 1981.
ReferencesEdit
^Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 21. ISBN0-141-00646-3.
^Jost, Ekkehard (1975). Free Jazz (Studies in Jazz Research 4). Universal Edition. p. 177.
^Wilmer, Valerie (1977). As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz. Quartet. pp. 122–123.
^Jost, Ekkehard (1975). Free Jazz (Studies in Jazz Research 4). Universal Edition. p. 167.
^Wilmer, Valerie (1977). As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz. Quartet. pp. 122–123.
^Jost, Ekkehard (1975). Free Jazz (Studies in Jazz Research 4). Universal Edition. p. 167.
^Voce, Steve (12 November 1999). "Obituary: Lester Bowie". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022.
^"Obituary: Malachi Favors". The Guardian. 11 February 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
^Chinen, Nate (January 11, 2019). "Joseph Jarman, 81, Dies; Mainstay of the Art Ensemble of Chicago". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
^Jazz Musician and Buddhist Priest Joseph Jarman Dead at 81: Pitchfork. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
^Chinen, Nate (October 6, 2017). "The Art Ensemble of Chicago Celebrates 50 Years Of Channeling And Challenging History". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
^Shteamer, Hank (March 25, 2019). "The Art Ensemble of Chicago on the Past and Future of Their 'Great Black Music'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
^"The Art Ensemble of Chicago". AKAMU SAS di Lofoco Alberto. 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
^ abcde"The Art Ensemble Of Chicago". Discogs. 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
^ abFordham, John (January 27, 2023). "Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris review – devoted heirs carry the torch". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
External linksEdit
Art Ensemble of Chicago – official website, but not updated since before 2004, retrieved May 21, 2019
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - current webpage as of 2019, maintained by Art Ensemble's European booking agency, retrieved May 21, 2019
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Discography at Discogs
discography (archive), retrieved January 11, 2005
biography on the AACM site, retrieved January 11, 2005
Art Ensemble of Chicago return to Mandel Hall after 32 years – report by Seth Sanders in the University of Chicago Chronicle, April 29, 2004, retrieved January 11, 2005
interview at Furious, retrieved January 11, 2005
photos, live in Salzburg/Austria 2006
Art Ensemble of Chicago portraits by Dominik Huber at dominikphoto.com
October 23, 2023
ensemble, chicago, avant, garde, jazz, group, that, grew, association, advancement, creative, musicians, aacm, late, 1960s, ensemble, integrates, many, jazz, styles, plays, many, instruments, including, little, instruments, bells, bicycle, horns, birthday, par. The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians AACM in the late 1960s 1 The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments including little instruments bells bicycle horns birthday party noisemakers wind chimes and various forms of percussion The musicians would wear costumes and face paint while performing These characteristics combined to make the ensemble s performances both aural and visual While playing in Europe in 1969 five hundred instruments were used 2 Art Ensemble of ChicagoArt Ensemble of Chicago New Jazz Festival Moers Moers Festival 1978Background informationOriginChicago Illinois U S GenresAvant garde jazz free jazzYears active1969 presentLabelsBYG Nessa Delmark ECM AECO PiMembersRoscoe Mitchell Famadou Don Moye and guests Past membersLester Bowie Malachi Favors Joseph Jarman Phillip Wilson Corey Wilkes Baba Sissoko Ari Brown Elliot NguboneWebsitewww wbr artensembleofchicago wbr com Contents 1 History 1 1 Fifty years on 2 Discography 3 Further reading 4 Films 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditMembers of what was to become the Art Ensemble performed together under various band names in the mid sixties as members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians AACM They performed on the 1966 album Sound as the Roscoe Mitchell Sextet The Sextet included saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell trumpeter Lester Bowie and bassist Malachi Favors For the next year they played as the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble In 1967 they were joined by fellow AACM members Joseph Jarman saxophone and Phillip Wilson drums and recorded for Nessa Records All of the musicians were multi instrumentalists Jarman and Mitchell s primary instruments were alto and tenor saxophone respectively but they played other saxophones from the small sopranino to the large bass saxophone and the flute and clarinet In addition to trumpet Bowie played flugelhorn cornet shofar and conch shells Favors added touches of banjo and bass guitar Most of them dabbled in piano synthesizer and other keyboards and they all played percussion instruments They were known for wearing costumes and makeup on stage Member Joseph Jarman described part of their style So what we were doing with that face painting was representing everyone throughout the universe and that was expressed in the music as well That s why the music was so interesting It wasn t limited to Western instruments African instruments or Asian instruments or South American instruments or anybody s instruments 3 In 1967 Wilson left the group to join Paul Butterfield s band and for a period the group was a quartet without a full time drummer Jarman and Mitchell served as artistic directors at the cooperative summer camp Circle Pines Center in Delton Michigan in August of 1968 during the same week that the Democratic Convention was in Chicago After a farewell concert at the Unitarian Church in Evanston Illinois in fall 1968 the remaining group traveled to Paris 4 In Paris the ensemble was based at the Theatre des Vieux Colombier 5 6 In France they became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago The impetus for the name change came from a French promoter who added of Chicago to their name for descriptive purposes but the new name stuck because band members felt that it better reflected the cooperative nature of the group In Paris the ensemble was based at the Theatre des Vieux Colombier 7 and they recorded for the Freedom and BYG labels They also recorded Comme a la radio with Brigitte Fontaine and Areski Belkacem but without a drummer until percussionist Don Moye became a member of the group in 1970 During that year they recorded the albums Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass and Les Stances a Sophie with singer Fontella Bass who was Lester Bowie s wife The latter was the soundtrack from the French movie of the same title nbsp At the 2017 Kongsberg JazzfestivalFifty years on Edit Lester Bowie died of liver cancer in 1999 8 Malachi Favors died in 2004 of pancreatic cancer 9 Joseph Jarman died on January 9 2019 of respiratory failure 10 11 As of 2017 2019 Mitchell and Moye remained active with new and previous collaborators as guest under the name Art Ensemble of Chicago 50th Anniversary Large Ensemble They released an album in 2019 12 13 14 15 Roscoe Mitchell saxophones Famoudou Don Moye drums congas and percussion Guests Babu Atiba de african drums and djembe Fred Berry de trumpet flugelhorn Silvia Bolognesi it double bass Brett Carson de piano Jean Cook violin Steed Cowart de conductor Rodolfo Cordova Lebron de voice Dudu Kouate de African percussion Edward Eddy Yoon Kwon de viola William Lang de trombone Nicole Mitchell flutes Moor Mother spoken word Erina Newkirk de soprano vocals Junius Paul de double bass and objects Hugh Ragin trumpet flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet Tomeka Reid cello Stephen Rush de conductor Jaribu Shahid double bass Abel Selaocoe de cello Simon Sieger de trombone Baba Sissoko African percussion Titos Sompa de vocals congas mbira bells Christina Wheeler de voice array mbira autoharp q chord theremin sampler electronics Enoch Williamson de congas djembe and percussionand another in 2023 with a smaller ensemble of 20 musicians The Sixth Decade From Paris to Paris 16 Discography EditTitle Year LabelSound Roscoe Mitchell Sextet 1966 DelmarkOld Quartet Roscoe Mitchell 1967 NessaNumbers 1 amp 2 Lester Bowie 1967 NessaEarly Combinations Art Ensemble 1967 NessaCongliptious Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble 1968 NessaA Jackson in Your House 1969 BYG ActuelTutankhamun 1969 FreedomThe Spiritual 1969 FreedomPeople in Sorrow 1969 NessaMessage to Our Folks 1969 BYG ActuelReese and the Smooth Ones 1969 BYG ActuelEda Wobu 1969 JMYComme a la radio 1970 SaravahCertain Blacks 1970 AmericaGo Home 1970 GallowayChi Congo 1970 PaulaLes Stances a Sophie 1970 NessaLive in Paris 1970 FreedomArt Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass 1970 AmericaPhase One 1971 AmericaLive at Mandel Hall 1972 DelmarkBap Tizum 1972 AtlanticFanfare for the Warriors 1973 AtlanticKabalaba 1974 AECONice Guys 1978 ECMLive in Berlin 1979 West WindFull Force 1980 ECMUrban Bushmen 1980 ECMAmong the People 1980 PraxisThe Third Decade 1984 ECMThe Complete Live in Japan recorded 1984 1985 expanded 1988 DIWNaked 1986 DIWAncient to the Future 1987 DIWThe Alternate Express 1989 DIWArt Ensemble of Soweto 1990 DIWAmerica South Africa 1990 DIWDreaming of the Masters Suite 1990 DIWThelonious Sphere Monk Dreaming of the Masters Series Vol 2 with Cecil Taylor 1990 DIWLive at the 6th Tokyo Music Joy 1990 DIWSalutes the Chicago Blues Tradition 1993 AECOComing Home Jamaica 1996 AtlanticUrban Magic 1997 MusicaTribute to Lester 2001 ECMReunion 2003 Around jazz Il ManifestoThe Meeting 2003 PiSirius Calling 2004 PiNon Cognitive Aspects of the City recorded 2004 2006 PiFundamental Destiny recorded 1991 with Don Pullen 15 2007 AECOLive At Earshot Jazz Festival 2002 with Fred Anderson 15 2007 MiloPeace Be Unto You with Fred Anderson 15 2008 AECOWe Are On The Edge A 50th Anniversary Celebration 15 2019 PiThe Sixth Decade From Paris to Paris 16 2023 RogueArtFurther reading EditSteinbeck Paul Message to Our Folks The Art Ensemble of Chicago University of Chicago Press 2017 Lewis George E A Power Stronger Than Itself The AACM and American Experimental Music University of Chicago Press 2008 Shipton Alyn A New History of Jazz London Continuum 2001 Films Edit1982 Great Black Music The Art Ensemble of Chicago Television documentary broadcast by Channel 4 in November 1982 1982 Live From the Jazz Showcase The Art Ensemble of Chicago directed by William J Mahin the University of Illinois at Chicago Filmed at Joe Segal s Jazz Showcase in Chicago November 1 1981 References Edit Cook Richard 2005 Richard Cook s Jazz Encyclopedia London Penguin Books p 21 ISBN 0 141 00646 3 Jost Ekkehard 1975 Free Jazz Studies in Jazz Research 4 Universal Edition p 177 Joseph Jarman interview Archived March 20 2006 at the Wayback Machine Wilmer Valerie 1977 As Serious As Your Life The Story of the New Jazz Quartet pp 122 123 Jost Ekkehard 1975 Free Jazz Studies in Jazz Research 4 Universal Edition p 167 Wilmer Valerie 1977 As Serious As Your Life The Story of the New Jazz Quartet pp 122 123 Jost Ekkehard 1975 Free Jazz Studies in Jazz Research 4 Universal Edition p 167 Voce Steve 12 November 1999 Obituary Lester Bowie The Independent Archived from the original on June 14 2022 Obituary Malachi Favors The Guardian 11 February 2004 Retrieved July 27 2021 Chinen Nate January 11 2019 Joseph Jarman 81 Dies Mainstay of the Art Ensemble of Chicago The New York Times Retrieved January 18 2019 Jazz Musician and Buddhist Priest Joseph Jarman Dead at 81 Pitchfork Retrieved 2019 01 11 Chinen Nate October 6 2017 The Art Ensemble of Chicago Celebrates 50 Years Of Channeling And Challenging History National Public Radio Retrieved 2019 05 21 Shteamer Hank March 25 2019 The Art Ensemble of Chicago on the Past and Future of Their Great Black Music Rolling Stone Retrieved 2019 05 21 The Art Ensemble of Chicago AKAMU SAS di Lofoco Alberto 2019 Retrieved 2019 05 21 a b c d e The Art Ensemble Of Chicago Discogs 2019 Retrieved 2019 05 21 a b Fordham John January 27 2023 Art Ensemble of Chicago The Sixth Decade From Paris to Paris review devoted heirs carry the torch The Guardian Retrieved 2023 03 17 External links EditArt Ensemble of Chicago official website but not updated since before 2004 retrieved May 21 2019 The Art Ensemble of Chicago current webpage as of 2019 maintained by Art Ensemble s European booking agency retrieved May 21 2019 Art Ensemble of Chicago Discography at Discogs Art Ensemble of Chicago discography archive retrieved January 11 2005 Art Ensemble of Chicago biography on the AACM site retrieved January 11 2005 Art Ensemble of Chicago return to Mandel Hall after 32 years report by Seth Sanders in the University of Chicago Chronicle April 29 2004 retrieved January 11 2005 Joseph Jarman interview at Furious retrieved January 11 2005 Art Ensemble of Chicago photos live in Salzburg Austria 2006 Art Ensemble of Chicago portraits by Dominik Huber at dominikphoto com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Art Ensemble of Chicago amp oldid 1177879357, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
