When trumpet great Lester Bowie died in 1999, followers of the Art Ensemble of Chicago couldn’t help but wonder whether the legendary quintet, which owed so much to his special and outlandish gifts, would – or should – go on. That it did, in his memory, with no loss of spirit. But the subsequent passing of two other founding members Malachi Favors Maghostut in 2004 and Joseph Jarman in 2019, made it even more difficult to envision a future for the band.

Leave it to the Art Ensemble’s proud surviving members, saxophonist/composer Roscoe Mitchell and drummer/percussionist Famoudou Don Moye to keep its flame glowing. In typically bold fashion, they not only extended the life of this beloved band, they redefined it in glorious and unexpected ways. Talk about your re-branding: With the addition of brilliant young players including poet and spoken word artist Moor Mother, cellist Tomeka Reid and violinist Jean Cook, and esteemed elders including trumpeter Hugh Ragin, flutist Nicole Mitchell, and bassist Jaribu Shahid, the Art Ensemble became a full-fledged chamber orchestra.

Critics were abuzz after the Art Ensemble, marking its 50th anniversary, introduced its expanded lineup at the 2019 Big Ears Festival. Jon Pareles of the New York Times praised its unlikely mix of “improvisational orchestral squall, dissonant chamber-jazz, a kind of parlor song and a musical jungle full of birdcalls,” plus its swinging vamps, political poetry and Roscoe Mitchell’s “perpetual-motion tour-de-force.” The newly configured Art Ensemble added to that buzz a few months later with its acclaimed double album, We Are On the Edge.

READ MORE

LABEL: RogueArt

ALBUM: The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris

RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2023

ARTIST LINKS:
Label Page
Bandcamp