Sound Experiments: The Music of the AACM

294 Pages·2022·14.246 MB·English

by  Paul Steinbeck

Sound Experiments

Sound
Experiments
The Music of the AACM
PAUL STEINBECK
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2022 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or repro-
duced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, ex-
cept in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press,
1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2022
Printed in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22  1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978-0-2 26- 82009- 5 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978-0 - 226- 82043- 9 (e- book)
DOI: https:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/ chicago/ 9780226820439 .001 .0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Steinbeck, Paul, author.
Title: Sound experiments : the music of the AACM /
Paul Steinbeck.
Other titles: Music of the AACM
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press,
2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2022003330 | ISBN 9780226820095 (cloth) |
ISBN 9780226820439 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Association for the Advancement of Creative
Musicians. | Jazz—Illinois—Chicago—History and criticism. |
Avant-garde (Music)—Illinois—Chicago—History. | African
Americans—Illinois—Chicago—Music—History and criticism. |
African American jazz musicians—Illinois—Chicago. | African
American musicians—Illinois—Chicago.
Classifi cation: LCC ML28.C4 A874 2022 ML3508.8.C5 |
DDC 781.65092/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022003330
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
The contribution of the AACM to
creative music is in evidence
throughout the musical world.
—w adada leo smith, notes (8 pieces) source a new world
music: creative music

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Roscoe Mitchell, Sound :: Muhal Richard Abrams, Levels and
Degrees of Light 7
2 Roscoe Mitchell, Nonaah 38
3 Anthony Braxton, Composition 76 60
4 Air, Air Time 88
5 George Lewis, Voyager 109
6 Fred Anderson, Volume Two 121
7 AACM Great Black Music Ensemble, At Umbria Jazz 2009 139
8 Wadada Leo Smith, Ten Freedom Summers 159
9 Nicole Mitchell, Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds 176
Conclusion 199
Notes 203
Recordings 231
References 237
Index 255
Figures follow page 120.

acknowledgments
This book is an off ering to the Association for the Advancement of Cre-
ative Musicians (AACM), an organization that has had a profound eff ect
on my life. Indeed, I couldn’t have written Sound Experiments without
the assistance and inspiration of the AACM members who have been
my teachers and collaborators since the late 1990s. During my under-
graduate years at the University of Chicago, former AACM chair Mwata
Bowden invited me to play bass in the Jazz X-t et, a university ensemble
that performed compositions by Douglas Ewart, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada
Leo Smith, and other artists from the Association. Playing these scores
made me want to compose for the X- tet, so Mwata connected me with his
AACM colleague Ari Brown, who took me on as a composition student.
Mwata also introduced me to Fred Anderson, an original AACM member
and the proprietor of the Velvet Lounge performance space on Chicago’s
South Side. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Velvet Lounge was the heart of
the South Side jazz community as well as the unoffi cial headquarters of
the AACM. From 1998 to 2002, I visited the Velvet Lounge once or twice
a week, every week— participating in the Sunday-e vening jam sessions,
performing with my own bands, and sometimes just sitting with Fred and
listening to his soliloquies about music and life.
After college, Mwata and Fred sent me to Columbia University in New
York, where I studied with another AACM member, George Lewis, and
embarked on a research project that eventually became my fi rst book,
Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago. While in New York, I
began performing and recording with a number of AACM artists, from
Mwata and Fred to Thurman Barker, Douglas Ewart, Alvin Fielder, Jo-
seph Jarman, and Malachi Thompson. These experiences were integral
to my development as a musician and an author, and I am thankful for
everything that the members of the Association have taught me. I am
especially grateful to the AACM musicians (and their families) who con-
tributed directly to Sound Experiments by giving interviews and permit-
ting me to include their scores and sketches in the book: Dee Alexander,
[ x ] acknowledgments
Fred Anderson Estate/Many Weathers Music, Thurman Barker, Mwata
Bowden, Anthony Braxton/Tri-C entric Foundation, Ernest Dawkins/Dawk
Music, Douglas Ewart/Nkoranza Publishing, Alvin Fielder, George Hines,
Fred Hopkins Estate/Frederic Publishing, Leonard Jones, George Lewis,
Steve McCall Estate/Big Mac Publishing, Nicole Mitchell/ Wheatgoddess
Creations, Roscoe Mitchell/Art Ensemble of Chicago Publishing, Dushun
Mosley, Jeff Parker, Wadada Leo Smith/Kiom Music, Henry Threadgill/
Dubra Publishing, and Taalib-D in Ziyad.
When I started writing Sound Experiments, my friends Julian Berke
and Scott Garrigan helped me choose the compositions and recordings
featured in each chapter. Later on, Julian and Scott carefully reviewed
the entire manuscript— as did Marc Hannaford and John Litweiler. Other
expert readers critiqued individual chapters: Tatsu Aoki, Brent Hayes
Edwards, Luther Ivory, Andy Pierce, Chad Taylor, Carl Testa, Niklaus
Troxler, and Alex Wing. Brad Short, the music librarian at Washington
University in St. Louis, aided my research by acquiring an impressive
collection of materials related to the AACM. Another colleague at Wash-
ington University, Felipe Guz Tinoco, drafted the musical examples that
appear in chapter 4.
Sound Experiments was acquired by University of Chicago Press ex-
ecutive editor Doug Mitchell not long before his retirement. After Doug
retired, Elizabeth Branch Dyson (the Press’s assistant editorial director
and executive editor) spearheaded the publication process, with the sup-
port of editorial associates Mollie McFee and Dylan Montanari. Elizabeth,
Mollie, and Dylan were a joy to work with— my thanks to them and
their team, especially copyeditor Marianne Tatom and production edi-
tor Caterina MacLean. Designer Ryan Li did a remarkable job with every
part of the book, from the text and the musical examples to the gallery
of photos by Lauren Deutsch, Lona Foote, Markus di Francesco, Michael
Jackson (jackojazz. com), Leonard Jones, Mayumi Lake, Roberto Masotti,
and Alan Teller. And University of Chicago Press publicist C arrie Olivia
Adams ensured that Sound Experiments, much like the AACM, would
reach a worldwide audience.
Each individual named above played a key role in the making of Sound
Experiments, and they have my enduring gratitude. But most of all I am
thankful for my wonderful wife, Candice Ivory— and our children, Ellis
and Nia, who truly light up my life. This book is dedicated to Candice,
Ellis, and Nia, with all my love.
Paul Steinbeck
St. Louis, Missouri