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.
Miles Ahead is an album by Miles Davis that was released in October 1957 by Columbia Records. It was Davis' first collaboration with arranger Gil Evans following the Birth of the Cool sessions. Along with their subsequent collaborations Porgy and Bess (1959) and Sketches of Spain (1960), Miles Ahead is one of the most famous recordings of Third Stream, a fusion of jazz, European classical, and world musics. Davis played flugelhorn throughout.
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).
Thelonious Sphere Monk: Dreaming of the Masters Series Vol. 2 is an album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Cecil Taylor released on the Japanese DIW label. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut and Don Moye with Cecil Taylor guesting on piano, vocals and percussion.
Musique Mecanique is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in 1978 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1979.
Tapestries for Small Orchestra is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Dixon, which was recorded in 2008 and released on Firehouse 12 Records. The triple disc set includes two audio CDs of specially commissioned original music plus a documentary film featuring interviews and session footage. The small orchestra is a nine-piece group with personnel drawn, for the most part, from the large ensemble that recorded 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur a year before.
5000 Poems is an album by American jazz trombonist Steve Swell, which was recorded in 2007 and released on the Polish Not Two label. It was the fourth release by Slammin' the Infinite and the second as a quintet with pianist John Blum. The title takes its name from an essay by Walt Whitman.
Song for My Sister is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 2002 and released on Pi Recordings. It was the third studio recording by the Note Factory, a nonet with twin rhythm sections. Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn will later record duo album The Transitory Poems in 2019.
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.
Arc of O is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell & an_Arche New Music Ensemble, a Polish chamber group co-founded and directed by Rafal Zapala and Filip Walcerz. It was recorded live as part of the Made in Chicago Festival of Poznań in 2010 and released on the French RogueArt label.
Emerald Hills is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was recorded in 2009 and released on the French RogueArt label. It was the debut recording by Sonic Projections, a quartet featuring pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist David Boykin and drummer Chad Taylor. The band was formed in 2008 to celebrate the publication of George Lewis's book A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music.
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.
The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was recorded in 2013 and released on the French RogueArt label. It was the second recording by Sonic Projections, a quartet featuring pianist Craig Taborn, saxophonist David Boykin and drummer Chad Taylor. The album title is a tribute to Chicago saxophonist Fred Anderson and his Velvet Lounge club.
Hope, Future and Destiny is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell, which was released in 2004 on Dreamtime, the label she established with David Boykin. It was the third recording by her Black Earth Ensemble. This work was the musical score for a multi-arts community play involving a cast of over 50 people in dance, video, acting and live original music.
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.
Our Lady of the Flowers is an album by American jazz pianist Matthew Shipp, which was recorded in 2013 and released on the French RogueArt label. The album is named after the novel by French writer Jean Genet. It was the second disc by Shipp's Declared Enemy, the quartet he assembled for Salute to 100001 Stars with reedist Sabir Mateen, bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver.
Afrika Rising is an album by jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell with her group Black Earth Ensemble. It was released in 2002 by Dreamtime, Mitchell's own label.
Xenogenesis Suite is an album by American jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell with her Black Earth Ensemble, which was recorded in 2007 and released on Firehouse 12. The work was commissioned by Chamber Music America and premiered at Vision Festival XII in New York City. It was her first suite based on the Xenogenesis novels of American science fiction writer Octavia Butler.
Three Compositions is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded live at the occasion of Sant'Anna Arresi Jazz Festival 2009 and released on the French RogueArt label. Mitchell's scores are played by flautist Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble.
Angel City is an album by American jazz saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell which was recorded in 2012 and released on the French RogueArt label. Mitchell wrote the piece for the 2011 Angel City Jazz Festival in Los Angeles.
