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. 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.
Roscoe Mitchell is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". The Penguin Guide to Jazz described him as "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz; All About Jazz stated in 2004 that he had been "at the forefront of modern music" for more than 35 years. Critic Jon Pareles in The New York Times has mentioned that Mitchell "qualifies as an iconoclast". In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Mitchell is known for cofounding the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
Tani Tabbal is a jazz drummer who has worked with Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, and Cassandra Wilson.
Hugh Ragin is an American jazz trumpeter.
Octet Plays Trane is an album by the David Murray Octet, released in 2000 on Justin Time. The musicians include Murray, Rasul Siddik, Hugh Ragin, Craig Harris, James Spaulding, Ravi Best, D. D. Jackson, Mark Johnson and Jaribu Shahid. The album contains Murray's versions of compositions by John Coltrane, and is dedicated to Bob Thiele.
Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City: Live at the Iridium is a live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in April, 2004 at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City and released in 2006 on the Pi Recordings label. It features performances by Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye with trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Jaribu Shahid replacing the late Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors Maghostut.
3 x 4 Eye is an album by jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble, recorded in 1981 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Live at the Knitting Factory is a live album by jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble recorded in 1987 at the Knitting Factory for the Italian Black Saint label.
Nine to Get Ready is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell recorded in May 1997 and released on ECM in 1999. The nonet features brass section Hugh Ragin and George Lewis, and double-rhythm section Matthew Shipp and Craig Taborn, Jaribu Shahid and William Parker, and Tani Tabbal and Gerald Cleaver.
Far Side is a live album by jazz saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory recorded at the Stadtsaal in Burghausen, Germany on March 17, 2007, and released on ECM in 2010.
Conversin' with the Elders is the fourth album by saxophonist James Carter recorded in late 1995 and early 1996 and released on the Atlantic label. The album features guest appearances by veteran musicians, including trumpeters Harry "Sweets" Edison and Lester Bowie, and saxophonists Hamiet Bluiett, Larry Smith and Buddy Tate.
Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 1980 and released on Nessa. It was the debut of the Sound Ensemble which introduced four young musicians: trumpeter Hugh Ragin, guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Tani Tabbal. The album was reissued on CD in 2003.
Turn is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 2005 and released on the French RogueArt label. He leads a new quintet with longtime rhythm section Jaribu Shahid on bass and Tani Tabbal on drums, pianist Craig Taborn and new Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter Corey Wilkes.
Early Combinations is an album by a formative stage of the band which later became the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It was recorded in 1967 at Lester Bowie's home but not issued as a single CD until 2012 by Nessa Records. The two tracks on the album were originally included in the 1993 limited edition box set Art Ensemble 1967/68, also released by Nessa. "A To Ericka" was recorded for submission to a Jazz Festival in Poland and was unsuccessful in its purpose. "Quintet" was a dress rehearsal for a concert arranged by Jarman to take place at Winnetka High School that was cancelled.
Jaribu Abdurahman Shahid is an American jazz bassist. He plays both double-bass and electric bass.
Bells for the South Side is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, which was recorded live in 2015 at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in the context of The Freedom Principle, a 50th-anniversary exhibition devoted to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and released on ECM.
An Afternoon in Harlem is an album by trumpeter Hugh Ragin. It was recorded on December 6 and 7, 1998, at Sound on Sound Studios in New York City, and was released in 1999 by Justin Time Records. On the album, Ragin is joined by bass clarinetist David Murray, pianist Craig Taborn, bassist Jaribu Shahid, and drummers Bruce Cox and Andrew Cyrille. Amiri Baraka also appears on the track titled "When Sun Ra Gets Blue."
Back to Saturn (Dedicated to the Memory of Sun Ra) is an album by trumpeter Hugh Ragin and his Collective, featuring vibraphonist Greg Carroll, pianist Marc Sabatella, bassist Erik Turkman, and drummer Scott Gordan. It was recorded on August 10 and 11, 1993, at Eye in the Sky Sound in LaPorte, Colorado, and was released in 2000 by the Black Saint label.
Feel the Sunshine is an album by trumpeter Hugh Ragin. It was recorded on October 19 and 20, 2001, at Sound on Sound Studios in New York City, and was released in 2002 by Justin Time Records. On the album, Ragin is joined by saxophonist Assif Tsahar, pianist Craig Taborn, bassist Jaribu Shahid, and drummer Tani Tabbal.
Revelation is an album by trumpeter Hugh Ragin. It was recorded on September 2, 2003, at G Spot Studios in Brooklyn, New York, and was released in 2004 by Justin Time Records. On the album, Ragin is joined by saxophonist Assif Tsahar, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake.
