Something Blue

DJ Hairy Larry Presents The Art Ensemble Of Chicago Recorded At Grant Park
From The Archives Of Something Blue 2026-04-19

Joseph Jarman

Thanks Marty, today we’re going to hear an Avant Garde jazz band from Chicago.

In the sixties and seventies Chicago had a new jazz scene called Avant Garde or Free Jazz which had a heavy emphasis on percussion, unusual instruments and instrument blends, and less emphasis on swing and structure. This movement included Anthony Braxton, Sun Ra, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, and Joseph Jarman. Fellow travelers included Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, and Pharoah Sanders. In 2014 Pharoah Sanders played with The Chicago Underground as Pharoah & The Underground.

So now, I’m going to focus on Joseph Jarman. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Jarman was raised in Chicago. He was one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Jarman attended Wilson Junior College, where he met bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton. These musicians along with Fred Anderson and Phil Cohran founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1965.

In 1969, Jarman joined Mitchell, Maghostut and Lester Bowie in the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. This band eventually became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

The group was known for being costumed on stage for different reasons; Jarman wore facepaint and has mentioned that it was “sort of the shamanistic image coming from various cultures.”

So there you have it. Joseph Jarman, born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, thriving in the center of the Avant Garde jazz movement in Chicago. This movement included John Coltrane and birthed Spiritual Jazz. Free Jazz and Spiritual Jazz remain popular sub genres today.

I will post links to much more information about Joseph Jarman, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago on the Something Blue website at sbblues.com.

So, on August 31, 1988, the Art Ensemble of Chicago performed at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. And all of those sounds blew into the ether, never to be heard again. Except for the fact that Aadam Jacobs was in the audience with his microphones and his cassette deck. Aadam Jacobs was a prolific taper who recorded thousands of concerts. His Audio Archive is now being made available at the Live Music Archive at archive.org.

I selected Track 4 to play for you today. Now the music of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago is, to use a technical term, “out there”. Track 4 is the most accessible song they played at that concert which is why I picked it for Arkansas Roots. I do know, however, that many Something Blue listeners enjoy this kind of music so this week, on Something Blue, I am playing an extended excerpt from this concert which I would classify as “way out there”.

So now, recorded at Grant Park, in Chicago, on August 31, 1988, here’s the Art Ensemble Of Chicago.

Something Blue Archives Featured Concert
Art Ensemble of Chicago Live at Petrillo Music Shell – Grant Park 1988-08-31
archive.org/details/ajc02106_art-ensemble-of-chicago-1988-08-31

Something Blue Archives – List Of Concerts
archive.org/details/somethingbluearchives?sort=-publicdate

Source materials from Wikipedia

Joseph Jarman
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Jarman

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Creative_Musicians

Art Ensemble of Chicago
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Ensemble_of_Chicago
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