Books / BY KURT GOTTSCHALK Art Ensemble Origin Story The Art Ensemble of Chicago wasn’t just one of the greatest collectives in jazz; the band’s ear- ly years constitute one of the genre’s greatest origin stories as well. As the most acclaimed act to come out of the seminal Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago in the late 1960s, the Art Ensemble put that organization’s policies of artistic and economic independence into successful prac- tice. They became internationally renowned without compromising their vision and sur- Noah Preminger vived five decades and the death of two key Meditations On Freedom members, proving that they were truly greater DRY BRIDGE RECORDS 005 than the sum of their parts. HHHH AACM member George Lewis told the story well in his vital 2007 tome A Power It’s been said that writing about music is like Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American dancing about architecture, though certain- Experimental Music (University of Chicago ly not by anyone in music journalism. But is Press), but the Art Ensemble is important playing music about issues of concern equally enough to warrant a volume of its own. pointless? Musicians and critics would surely They get just that with Paul Steinbeck’s well-researched Message to Our Folks unite to deliver a resounding “No!” Especially (University of Chicago Press). after they’ve listened to Meditations On Steinbeck intersperses his chronological years—how they carried on through the Freedom. narrative with chapters focusing on specific departure of Joseph Jarman in 1993, the Whether composed by Noah Preminger releases, providing both macro and micro death of Bowie in 1999 and the death or drawn from the canon of songs inspired views of the band’s work. He relays the re- of Malachi Favors in 2004—would hard- by inequity and injustice, these nine tracks markable tale of the Art Ensemble’s 1969– ly have dragged the text down. Roscoe derive their eloquence from two primary 1971 Parisian sojourn, during which they Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye per- sources. established themselves as an international severed during that time, bringing other The first of course is the players involved. act even before having built a domestic musicians into the fold and making some Preminger highlights this effectively with open- following (and added “of Chicago” to their strong recordings. It’s not the rags-to-rich- name). He tells of their triumphant return, es part of the tale, but it is no less integral. ing sections that spotlight duo combinations. portraying them convincingly as a phenom- Steinbeck does do a good job with the Check the overtone chimes and double-stops enon in the jazz world, both onstage and part of the story that most interests him. that flavor Kim Cass’ bass alongside the sax at off. As Steinbeck relates, the band handled The Art Ensemble enjoyed not just artistic the top of “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Then its business practices much the way they success but a level of social mobility in submit to a more solemn spell, with Preminger did their concerts: establish a goal (a set Paris that was not available to them in the and Jason Palmer treating the theme to “Only list, a tour schedule) and realize it through States. Freedom in France, however, came A Pawn In Their Game” as if they were reading a consensual process. Between 1975 and with a racial filter of a different sort, the Scripture together. 1979, they incorporated as Art Ensemble of same one that had made Josephine Bak- The other key to Preminger’s method is to Chicago Operations (AECO), launched their er the talk of the town 40 years prior. The omit a harmonic instrument from this session. own label and hired a small support staff. band members were aware of this, and Concentrated attention—including de- played to it with old-time spirituals and Including a piano would inject a sense of struc- tailed musical analysis—is given in three revolutionary politics. In retrospect, the tural anticipation: It would be difficult for the separate chapters to the albums A Jackson “message to our old folks at home” rou- player to not signal an impending chord change In Your House (recorded during their time in tine seems at once a sincere reminiscence or cadence or chorus. France) and Live At Mandel Hall (their home- and a biting pantomime. Compositionally, of course, that’s a prereq- coming concert, recorded at the University The band was capable of stark social uisite for this material. But Preminger removes of Chicago on the city’s South Side) and to satire, especially in its early days. It also that aspect of listening and probably even of the concert video Live From the Jazz Show- fostered a shared interest in theatricality. playing these works. case (also released on DVD as In Concert), Steinbeck outlines these points without Will any of this music actually increase the recorded at Chicago’s Blackstone Hotel in hammering them home. odds of world peace? Probably not. But it will 1981. Steinbeck suggests listening to these But the author, an assistant professor recordings during the respective chapters, of music theory at Washington University, take you to a better place -- and that’s import- and his pacing is astonishing, allowing for isn’t into issuing polemics, and his prose ant too. —Bob Doerschuk a leisurely read with room to stop and listen. here is more admiring than academic. Meditations On Freedom: Only A Pawn In Their Game; Just The Way It Is; A Change Is Gonna Come; We Have A Dream; Mother That said, the selections point to the Lewis’ AACM book is already necessary Earth; Women’s March; The 99 Percent; Give Me Love (Give Me book’s big shortcoming. We follow the rise reading, and Message to Our Folks sits Peace On Earth); Broken Treaties (49:45) Personnel: Noah Preminger, saxophone; Jason Palmer, trumpet; DB to fame and speed through the rest. An quite nicely beside it. Kim Cass, bass; Ian Froman, drums. Ordering info: press.uchicago.edu/index.html informed discussion of the group’s later Ordering info: noahpreminger.com

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