AACM

Movement · May 1965 → · Chicago · Avant-garde and collectives

Association for the Advancement of Creative Artists, founded in Chicago by Muhal Richard Abrams, heir to the Experimental Band of 1961. A collective institution, not a style.

What is still debated

A movement still active (Threadgill, Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, Roscoe Mitchell), not a "free" episode that closed in 1975.

Where it comes from

• Free jazz

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Collectives and lofts (BAG, loft jazz)
• M-Base

Artists

• Roscoe Mitchell (1940, saxophones, flute, clarinet)
• Henry Threadgill (1944, viola, tenor and baritone saxophones, flutes, clarinet, percussion)
• Wadada Leo Smith (1941, trumpet, flugelhorn, koto, kalimba, atenteben)
• Matana Roberts (alto saxophone, clarinet, vocals)

Tracks to start with

• Theme de Yoyo — Art Ensemble of Chicago (1970)
• Levels and Degrees of Light — Muhal Richard Abrams (1967)
• Libation for Mr. Brown: Bid 'Em In... — Matana Roberts (2011)

Sources

• EN : Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians

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