Members of what was to become the Art Ensemble performed together under various band names in the mid-sixties, as members of the
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). They performed on the 1966 album
Sound, as the
Roscoe Mitchell Sextet. The Sextet included saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, trumpeter
Lester Bowie, and bassist
Malachi Favors. For the next year, they played as the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. In 1967, they were joined by fellow AACM members
Joseph Jarman (saxophone) and
Phillip Wilson (drums) and recorded for
Nessa Records. All of the musicians were multi-instrumentalists. Jarman and Mitchell's primary instruments were
alto and
tenor saxophone, respectively. Additionally, they both played other saxophones ranging from the small
sopranino to the large
bass saxophone, as well as the flute and clarinet. In addition to trumpet, Bowie played
flugelhorn,
cornet,
shofar, and
conch shells. Favors added touches of banjo and bass guitar. Most of them dabbled in piano,
synthesizer, and other keyboards, and they all played percussion instruments. They were known for wearing costumes and makeup on stage. Member
Joseph Jarman described part of their style: In 1967, Wilson left the group to join
Paul Butterfield's band, and for a period the group was a quartet without a full-time drummer.
Jarman and
Mitchell served as artistic directors at the
cooperative summer camp
Circle Pines Center in
Delton, Michigan, in August 1968, during the same week that the Democratic Convention was in Chicago. After a farewell concert at the Unitarian Church in
Evanston, Illinois, in fall, 1968, the remaining group traveled to Paris. In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier. Malachi Favors died in 2004 of pancreatic cancer. Joseph Jarman died on January 9, 2019, of respiratory failure. As of 2017-2019 Mitchell and Moye remained active, with new and previous collaborators as guest under the name
Art Ensemble of Chicago - 50th Anniversary Large Ensemble. They released an album in 2019: – viola/violin • William Lang - trombone •
Nicole Mitchell – flutes •
Moor Mother – spoken word • Erina Newkirk – soprano vocals • – double bass and objects •
Hugh Ragin – trumpet, flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet •
Tomeka Reid – cello • Stephen Rush - conductor •
Jaribu Shahid – double bass •
Abel Selaocoe – cello • – trombone •
Baba Sissoko – African percussion • – vocals, congas, mbira, bells • Christina Wheeler – voice, array
mbira,
autoharp,
q-chord,
theremin,
sampler, electronics • Enoch Williamson – congas, djembe and percussion and another in 2023 with a smaller ensemble of 20 musicians –
The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris. ==Discography==