George Lewis to do book on AACM

[AllenLowe]

yes, I would describe Chuck's work as vinylistically impeccableous.

[Lazaro Vega]

He does a good job on the discussion of Sun Ra and the AACM.

[AllenLowe]

I'm liking the book, though I find myself jumping around a lot - wonder what Larry kart thinks?

larry -

larry?

LARRY?

geez, make the guy a moderator and all of a sudden he's too good to post with the common folks -

[Larry Kart]

I've got the book but haven't looked at it yet. Been reading even more than usual and following my nose even more than usual about what looks like it would feel good to read -- in the sense that it has to grip me in some way and take me away from the here and now -- and have come up with some odd results: a fair number of Scandinavian mysteries by various authors (after a while they do blend together), The Aeneid (in a very good IMO 1960 translation by Patrick Dickinson; what a strange, powerful poem that is), a very funny early 19th Century Scottish novel by one Susan Ferrier, "Marriage," which is like a cross between Jane Austen and Fielding, etc. In any case, I don't right now feel up to reading a book like Lewis's that I'm sure I'll have to grapple with and, in some sense, "judge." The very thing that Çhuck mentioned a while ago -- that in part I'd be reading about things that overlap my own past life and in which I was a peripheral participant -- is another reason I'm holding back, I guess. I'll get to it, though. It's sitting right where I can see it.

I wish there were more Richard Stark novels. Having read the new one, I'm all caught up.

[AllenLowe]

I know how you feel - the book may feel like work - it's kinda like the line from some comedian who didn't feel like reading a particular novel:

"sex and violence? Why would I want to read about that? I get enough of that at home."

Edited June 17, 2008 by AllenLowe

[Guest I'mdrooling]

sorry, but nobody can get enough of that stuff -

[relyles]

I finally finished the book during a business trip to St. Louis over the past weekend. I tought it was very well done and will be an important historical document about the AACM. I did feel, however, that as much detail was put into the early days it kinds of skimmed through a lot of what was going on from the mid seventies to present, but that is a minor quibble.

[reg]

just got the book from amazon today. quick look through and realised how little AACM stuff i've got.

could i please have 5 recommend albums that i NEED to buy (not AEC or baxton as i have a few of them and fancy something new) too listen to whilst i make my way through this big book thanks

[paul secor]

just got the book from amazon today. quick look through and realised how little AACM stuff i've got.

could i please have 5 recommend albums that i NEED to buy (not AEC or baxton as i have a few of them and fancy something new) too listen to whilst i make my way through this big book thanks

Here's five:

Air: Air Time (Nessa)

Muhal Richard Abrams: Sightsong (Black Saint)

Joseph Jarman: Song For (Delmark)

Fred Anderson: The Missing Link (Nessa)

Roscoe Mitchell: Sound (Delmark)

There are actually 25 or 50 or more that you NEED to listen to during the time you're reading Mr. Lewis' book, so here are some more (I'm sure others will have different and just as worthy recommendations):

George Lewis: Homage to Charles Parker (Black Saint)

Leo Smith: Spirit Catcher (Nessa) - only available on vinyl - I believe Chuck Nessa still has copies - a beautiful recording

Leroy Jenkins: The Legend of Ai Glatson (Black Saint)

Lester Bowie/Phillip Wilson: Duet 1978 (Improvising Artists)

Henry Threadgill: Song Out of My Trees ( Black Saint)

Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble: Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes (Nessa)

Fred Anderson/Robert Barry: Duets 2001 (Thrill Jockey)

Revolutionary Ensemble: And Now ... (pi)

Muhal Richard Abrams: One Line, Two Views (New World)

Roscoe Mitchell: No Side Effects (Rogueart)

[reg]

thanks for your reply Paul. had a feeling there might be more then 5 albums that where in the NEED to buy category

definitely want to get an album by Muhal Richard Abram and one of Henry Threadgill's. maybe i should get something by George Lewis as well

[jlhoots]

thanks for your reply Paul. had a feeling there might be more then 5 albums that where in the NEED to buy category

definitely want to get an album by Muhal Richard Abram and one of Henry Threadgill's. maybe i should get something by George Lewis as well

A really nice CD that George Lewis is on is Dutch Masters.

Just listened to it today.

[clifford_thornton]

By Clifford Allen

A Power Stronger Than Itself

George E. Lewis

Hardcover; 690 pages

ISBN: 0226476952

University of Chicago Press

2008

A long time coming, George Lewis' AACM tome is an in-depth socio-musicological study of a cooperative of musicians, the economic and political factors that gave rise to its existence, and the path it has charted since. Though a number of authors have written intelligently on the subject of vanguard Black music in Chicago, Lewis enjoys the advantage of having been a member of the AACM as trombonist-composer since the 1970s. This gives him unique insight into the group's machinations, as well as unprecedented access to the participants. Such immersion in the subject necessarily presents problems, but Lewis is mostly objective in his treatment of what sometimes verged on becoming a saga.

Lewis' characterizations of the urban blight that beset Chicago after the Depression serves to set the stage. Not only were the AACM's founding members children of the Depression, but the economic and social stumbling blocks faced by Black Chicagoans bordered on the insane: it's a wonder that the group was able to get off the ground when members could barely eat, let alone pay dues. As a self-empowerment organization that presented original music—and opportunities for self-betterment through this music—the AACM was a galvanizing force on the South Side. And the originality of the music was especially key, since originality and aesthetics became tangled in the AACM's early days. Yet it was plagued by the fact that most of the music presented was neither “audience-friendly” nor economically viable.

Particularly interesting in the study of the collective's early days are transcripts of meetings, taken directly from Muhal Richard Abrams' tape cache. The meetings were clearly contentious and difficult, especially when the topics addressed were musical content, or whether white musicians could be allowed to join (as in vibist Emanuel Cranshaw's case). The organization's history is traced through members' varied reception in Europe (not the “salad days” one assumes) and the move to what would be, for some, greener pastures in New York, a move that eventually split the collective into independent regional branches.

Lewis' writing can be a bit jumpy, as when he moves from the theoretical to the biographical, or when he uses the first person. A few sections seem cobbled together from previous papers (especially those on European concert music), and the influence of AACM music in Europe isn't significantly dealt with. Still, for the discussion of the organization's rise, and for the stories woven therein, A Power Stronger Than Itself is an unequaled volume on both its subject and on Black creative collectivity.

[Niko]

thanks for your reply Paul. had a feeling there might be more then 5 albums that where in the NEED to buy category

definitely want to get an album by Muhal Richard Abram and one of Henry Threadgill's. maybe i should get something by George Lewis as well

last year i asked a similar question in this (very interesting) thread and clifford thornton made me this fine list:

For the recommendations of things pertinent to this thread, here's a start:

Chicagoans:

Roscoe Mitchell: LRG/The Maze/SII Examples (Nessa)

Roscoe Mitchell: Nonaah (Nessa)

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Paris Sessions (Pathe)

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: A Jackson in Your House/Message to Our Folks (Charly/Actuel)

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: Certain Blacks (America)

The Art Ensemble of Chicago: 1967-1968 (Nessa), for historical context

Muhal Richard Abrams: Young At Heart/Wise in Time (Delmark)

Muhal Richard Abrams: LifeA BlineC (Novus)

Wadada Leo Smith: The Kabell Years (Tzadik)

Marion Brown/Leo Smith: Creative Improvisation Ensemble (Freedom)

Anthony Braxton: For Alto (Delmark)

Anthony Braxton: New York, Fall 1974 (Arista)

Anthony Braxton: Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista)

Anthony Braxton: Creative Contstruction Company 1 & 2 (Muse)

St. Louis:

Julius Hemphill: Dogon A.D. (Mbari)

Black Artists' Group: In Paris, Aires 1973 (BAG)

Ofamfa: Children of the Sun (Universal Justice)

Post-AACM integrationists:

Revolutionary Ensemble: Vietnam 1 & 2 (ESP-Disk')

Revolutionary Ensemble: The Psyche (Re: Records/Mutable)

Sirone: Artistry (Of the Cosmos)

Michael Gregory Jackson: Clarity (Bija) incl. L. Smith, O. Lake and D. Murray

Barry Altschul: You Can't Name Your Own Tune (Muse)

NY Loft Jazz:

Frank Lowe: The Flam (Black Saint) w/ L. Smith, J. Bowie, C. Shaw

Rashied Ali/Frank Lowe: Duo Exchange (Survival)

Rashied Ali: Quintet (Survival), w/ Blood Ulmer, Earl Cross, etc.

Noah Howard: Live at the Village Vanguard 1972 (Freedom)

Charles Tyler: Voyage From Jericho (Ak-Ba/Bleu Regard)

Charles Tyler: Saga of the Outlaws (Nessa)

Clifford Thornton: The Gardens of Harlem (JCOA)

I skimp a little on St. Louis, as I've not followed the BAG scene as closely as some others here have. There's a lot of Braxton from the '80s on that I haven't heard, but most of the work from the '60s thru the '70s is pertinent to this discussion, and I included a bit of that here. I err on the side of early AEC, for it is my preference. The earlier Delmark AACM titles I mostly left out, as that may be more of a precedent than anything else. There should be more stuff in the recommendations thread.

[Chalupa]

Pg.220,"Bowie, his wife Fontella Bass, Jarman, Mitchell, and Favors - boarded the S.S. United States, bound for France."

The S.S. United States has been docked for the past 12 years here in Philly and it is just rusting away. I'm not sure if can be saved at this point. Definitely not seaworthy. Here's a link to a history (and photo from 2005)of it from Wiki.

[AllenLowe]

Philly? Where's that?

[Guest I'mdrooling]

"all but one of the ladies in our group did enjoy it to one degree or another."

look, Chauncey, you and your group of aging fag hags should be reading recipe books not books by virile young men like George - might upset that post-menopausal hormonal balance and send 'em on a Chapman-like rage to destroy all the fine old AACM alumni -

unless one of 'em is Gould in a dress - in that case send him to the front lines -

[AllenLowe]

cool it, drooly - the AACM book is philadelphiosicioustically relevant -

[Van Basten II]

Is that me but with all these characters newly brought to this board, it feels like more an intellectual version of the WWF than a music discussion board. All this fake cool posturing and so-called brave witticism gets a little bit much. Can we have a few new normal human beings please ?

Edited June 24, 2008 by Van Basten II

[Lazaro Vega]

Sockpups are anthithetical to the spirit of collectivism engendered by the AACM. The sockpuppet is a stand alone soloist and as such has been outdone by others, such as Mark Twain or Thomas Pinchon, so is now outmoded. Let the ladies read whatever they want -- freedom for the sistas!

[Van Basten II]

If we were 20 members using this schtick, i would agree, however it's not the case.

But in terms of posting , it feels more like the nuts have taken over the asylum. Balance is everything, i don't mind the Clems and Allen Lowe of the world i do enjoy them, but if the majority of members act like them well...

[Lazaro Vega]

Yeah, but Allen's not a sockpuppet, he's a saxophonist. I mean, he's real and writes under his own name, not a nom de sock.

[Van Basten II]

Allen Lowe may use his real name, but he very often acts and write like a character more than a typical member, don't get me wrong he cracks me up a few times, once again the key is balance in the different ways of participating on this board.

Anyway, enough disgressions back to this very interesting subject

[Lazaro Vega]

Yeah, like what Lester Bowie had to say about using the "star" system to mess everything up.

[ep1str0phy]

Hadn't seen CT's list, but I'm really happy to see the Michael Gregory Jackson album on there. Karmonic Suite is the one I'm most familiar with, and his guitar playing I think the most impressive element. Jackson's percussion work is sensitive and earthy on a level that approaches some smaller-setting AACM percussion episodes, but that guitar playing is genuinely prescient and unique--and integrationist works here--in its amalgamation of an expanded harmonic vocabulary and idiomatic folk and soul guitar. Unsung.

Interesting comment(s) about Lewis as a writer, as he's actually, from what I can gather, pretty polarizing in some academic circles. The afrological/eurological distinction and its implications in the way of the validity of a lot of European musical practices--"truly" improvised and otherwise--has raised a great deal of umbrage. I've heard a lot of people, particularly downtown musicians, praise his writing as articulate and thoughtful, although I would imagine and have seen some improvisers on the international stage take issue with his debasement of some of the European folks. It doesn't help that the few full-length documents to address issues of provenance and validity in international improvisation--I'm thinking especially of Northern Sun, Southern Moon right now--are incomplete and tend to skate around the convergence of black music forms and European playing (if they address it at all; much of the debate is centered on Cageian aesthetics and not European improvisation at all).

Edited June 24, 2008 by ep1str0phy

[AllenLowe]

don't want to appear anti-intellectual, but those arguments wear me down and are a bit too ideological - whaddaya know, Duke Ellington was right -*

*famous and over-used quote about the two types of music

Edited June 28, 2008 by AllenLowe