The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devoted "to nurturing, performing, and recording serious, original music," according to its charter. It supports and encourages jazz performers, composers and educators. Although founded in the jazz tradition, the group's outreach and influence has, according to Larry Blumenfeld, "touched nearly all corners of modern music."
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.
Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz. Anderson was also noted for having mentored numerous young musicians. Critic Ben Ratliff called him "a father figure of experimental jazz in Chicago". Writer John Corbett referred to him as "scene caretaker, underground booster, indefatigable cultural worker, quiet force for good." In 2001, author John Litweiler called Anderson "the finest tenor saxophonist in free jazz/underground jazz/outside jazz today."
Edward L. Wilkerson Jr. is an internationally recognized American jazz composer, arranger, musician, and educator based in Chicago. As founder and director of the cutting-edge octet 8 Bold Souls, and the 25-member performance ensemble Shadow Vignettes, Wilkerson has toured festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. "Defender", a large-scale piece for Shadow Vignettes, was commissioned by the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund and featured in the 10th Anniversary of New Music America, a presentation of BAM's Next Wave Festival.
Nicole Mitchell is an American jazz flautist and composer who teaches jazz at the University of Virginia. She is a former chairwoman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
Tomeka Reid is an American composer, improviser, cellist, curator, and teacher.
Black Unstoppable is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was recorded in 2007 and released on Delmark. It was the fourth album by her Black Earth Ensemble and the first for Delmark after three recordings on Dreamtime, the label she established with David Boykin. According to Mitchell, this project features a diverse collection of songs that touch all sides of Great Black Music: avant-garde jazz, blues, R&B and soul. The group ranges in size from a quartet to a nonet.
Awakening is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was recorded in 2011 and released on Delmark. She leads a quartet with guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Avreeayl Ra. Although she's worked extensively with these musicians, the group played together for the first time just days before heading into the studio. Mitchell explained "With this quartet I tried to put the flute more out front as usual. I wanted to dig back into the old school jazz a bit and yet still make room to branch out into never-never land".
Anaya is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was recorded in 2008 and released on the French RogueArt label. It was the second recording by her Indigo Trio, a collective group with bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake.
Intergalactic Beings is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell with her Black Earth Ensemble, which was recorded in 2010 and released on FPE. The work was commissioned by the Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and the album is the result of the live performance. It was her second suite based on the Xenogenesis novels of American science fiction writer Octavia Butler.
Artifacts is an album by a collective trio consisting of Nicole Mitchell on flute and electronics, Tomeka Reid on cello and Mike Reed on drums, which was recorded in 2015 and released on 482 Music. The trio, which Tomeka Reid conceived for a concert in Seattle early in 2015, was formed to celebrate the legacy of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians during its 50th anniversary, interpreting compositions by some of its members. Cover art by Lewis Achenbach, created live during the 50th anniversary of the AACM at Mandel Hall in Chicago.
Jo'burg Jump is an album by American jazz saxophonist Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble, which was recorded in 2000 and released on Delmark. The album title was inspired by a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Harrison Napoleon Bankhead III was an American jazz double-bassist.
Ann E. Ward was an improviser, composer and educator, and a long-serving member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). A native of Chicago who studied music from a young age, she attended Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, studying piano, and graduated from Kentucky State College with a degree in music composition. After performing as a vocalist with the Ken Chaney Experience, she joined the AACM in 1981, eventually becoming an integral part of the organization. Ward was one of the most noted female composers in the AACM, and performed with many ensembles such as the Great Black Music Ensemble and Samana as a vocalist, pianist and African percussionist. She served as the director of the AACM School from 1983 to 2008, volunteering her time to take an active role in music education. Ward died in 2016 at age 67.
Sideshow is the second album by the jazz group 8 Bold Souls. It was recorded in November 1991 in Chicago, and was released in 1992 by Arabesque Records. The album features performances by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Edward Wilkerson, saxophonist Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Robert Griffin, Jr., trombonist Isaiah Jackson, tubist Aaron Dodd, cellist Naomi Millender, bassist Harrison Bankhead, and drummer Dushun Mosley.
Ant Farm is the third album by the jazz group 8 Bold Souls. It was recorded in July and August 1994 in Chicago and was released later that year by Arabesque Records. The album features performances by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Edward Wilkerson, saxophonist Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Robert Griffin, Jr., trombonist Isaiah Jackson, tubist Aaron Dodd, cellist Naomi Millender, bassist Harrison Bankhead, and drummer Dushun Mosley.
Last Option is the fourth album by the jazz group 8 Bold Souls. It was recorded in August 1999 in Chicago, and was released in 2000 by Thrill Jockey. The album features performances by saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Edward Wilkerson, saxophonist Mwata Bowden, trumpeter Robert Griffin, Jr., trombonist Isaiah Jackson, tubist Gerald Powell, cellist Naomi Millender, bassist Harrison Bankhead, and drummer Dushun Mosley.
Morning Sun/Harvest Moon is the debut album by American jazz double-bassist Harrison Bankhead. It was recorded in April 2010 in Chicago, and was released in 2011 by Engine Studios. On the album, Bankhead is joined by saxophonists Mars Williams and Edward Wilkerson, violinist James Sanders, percussionist Ernie Adams, and drummer Avreeayl Ra.
Velvet Blue is the second album by American jazz double-bassist Harrison Bankhead. It was recorded in March 2013 in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was released later that year by Engine Studios. On the album, Bankhead is joined by saxophonists Mars Williams and Edward Wilkerson, and drummer Avreeayl Ra.
Represencing is a 2012 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams, on which he is joined by members of the Natural Information Society.
