Art Ensemble of Chicago
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 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Avant-garde jazz, free jazz |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | BYG, Nessa, Delmark, ECM, AECO, Pi |
| Website | www |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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History
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After a concert at the Unitarian Church in Evanston, Illinois, in fall, 1968, the group traveled to Paris.[3] In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre des Vieux Colombier.[4]
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.[5]
Fifty years on
Joseph Jarman died on January 9, 2019 of respiratory failure.[6][7]
As of 2017-2019, the two remaining active members from 1968-2003, with new and previous collaborators as "guests", have been touring as the Art Ensemble of Chicago - 50th Anniversary Large Ensemble, and released an album in 2019:[8][9][10][11]
- Roscoe Mitchell – saxophones;
- Famoudou Don Moye – drums, congas and percussion.
Guests:
- Babu Atiba - african drums and djembe
- Fred Berry - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Silvia Bolognesi– double bass
- Brett Carson – piano
- Jean Cook – violin
- Steed Cowart - conductor
- Rodolfo Cordova-Lebron – voice
- Dudu Kouaté – African percussion
- Edward "Eddy" Yoon Kwon – viola
- William Lang - trombone
- Nicole Mitchell – flutes
- Moor Mother – spoken word
- Erina Newkirk - soprano vocals
- Junius Paul – double bass and objects
- Hugh Ragin – trumpet, flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet
- Tomeka Reid – cello
- Stephen Rush - conductor
- Jaribu Shahid – double bass
- Abel Selaocoe - cello
- Simon Sieger – trombone
- Baba Sissoko – African percussion
- Titos Sompa - vocals, congas, mbira, bells
- Christina Wheeler – voice, array mbira, autoharp, q-chord, theremin, sampler, electronics
- Enoch Williamson - congas, djembe and percussion
Discography
Further reading
- 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.
Films
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- Joseph Jarman interview Archived March 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Chinen, Nate (January 11, 2019). "Joseph Jarman, 81, Dies; Mainstay of the Art Ensemble of Chicago". Nytimes.com. 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.
- "The Art Ensemble Of Chicago". Discogs. 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
External links
- 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
- 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