FM
History
The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble closely identified with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since the mid 1960s. The group continues to tour and record, despite the deaths of two of the founding members. The original lineup was founder Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman on reeds, Lester Bowie on trumpet, and Malachi Favors on bass. They worked with a succession of drummers recruited from Chicago and St. Louis, until Famadou Don Moye joined as the permanent drummer upon their return from their three year residency in Paris, 1969-1971.
The Art Ensemble embodied the AACM motto "Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future" with their use of costumes and face paint in performance plus the adventurous improvisation, the use of folk music and instruments, swing, and a variety of musical expression that made them hard to pin down to a specific genre.
Genres
Members
