Six Albums for 60 Years

This year marks an exciting milestone for the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), which was founded in 1965. Spawning many of the 20th and 21st centuries’ most boundary breaking musicians, the influence of the AACM over its 60-year history cannot be overstated. In recent years, this influence has spread further, and shaped the next generation of improvisers and composers. As a composer/improviser myself (as well as arts administrator within CMA), I’ve been personally impacted listening to works like Wadada Leo Smith’s Divine Love, the collective ensemble Dot Iso (of which I am a member) has learned and re-arranged Anthony Braxton works for our ensemble, and in 2019, I assisted in score copy for a performance of Henry Threadgill’s The Arab Apocalypse IV with SEM Ensemble (where my chamber work whose that dedicated to Threadgill was also performed).

In recent years, Chamber Music America has recognized this pioneering organization in various ways. In 2019, AACM received CMA’s most prestigious honor, the Richard J. Bogolmolny National Service Award. That year, Chamber Music editorial director Larry Blumenfeld interviewed composer and multi-reedist Henry Threadgill in a wide ranging and exciting conversation. And in 2025, Roscoe Mitchell was honored with CMA’s first Executive Award.

The broad, difficult to categorize work of AACM members is not easily summarized. What follows is simply a survey of recordings that have moved me: one musician and arts administrator, who was tasked with selecting one album per decade. AACM connoisseurs will recognize the list’s omissions—significant recordings featuring AACM founding member Steve McCall, the electronics experiments with Voyager by George Lewis, work by the very-active Ernest Dawkins, or anything featuring the boundary-breaking work of Amina Claudine Myers. Suffice to say, the output and influence of AACM members is immense. For AACM newbies, I encourage you to look into these artists’ discographies, find what resonates, and to read into the history of this special organization. Another recommendation? George Lewis’s book, A Power Stronger than Itself, for a thorough history, as well as Paul Steinbeck’s book on the Art Ensemble of Chicago A Message to Our Folks, Henry Threadgill’s autobiography Easily Slip into Another World, and Graham Lock’s account of the Anthony Braxton quartet on tour in the 1980s, Forces in Motion.

Listen to a selection of tracks from these recordings here and find links to purchase these works on Bandcamp (where available), below.

Plus! Read CMA’s past coverage of the AACM and its members, including feature articles on projects and ensembles featuring George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith, Tomeka Reid, Henry Threadgill, and Roscoe Mitchell. Also included is a profile of the AACM itself and an essay by Nicole Mitchell.

1960s

Anthony Braxton – 3 Compositions of New Jazz (1968)

I struggled to decide whether to include this for the “1960s” album or Roscoe Mitchell’s formative Sound. I went with Braxton, as Art Ensemble of Chicago is featured later on this list, and I felt like the list would not be complete without his inclusion. Braxton is one of the most lauded figures in creative music, and recently celebrated his 80th birthday. The works presented here on his debut as leader show that he was ready to break open conventional forms of music. He would later go on to write works for 100 tubas, constructed environments, and many other novel compositions. His influence on the current generation of musicians cannot be understated.

1970s

Wadada Leo Smith – Divine Love (1978)

This drumless, yet percussion heavy music utilizes space and resonance. This was a moment of arrival for Wadada Leo Smith, who has continued to create varied, spacious, and beautiful music his entire career. This music moves slowly and majestically, while allowing each musician to shine. Performed mostly with multi-reedist Bobby Andrews and percussionist Bobby Naughton, Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler feature on one track, as does famed bassist Charlie Haden on another.

1980s

Art Ensemble of Chicago – Urban Bushmen (1980)

Art Ensemble is in top form on this recording, released in 1982 on Manfred Eicher’s ECM records. The group moves through pieces composed by all of its members, and closes with their iconic Odwalla/Theme. This was introduced to me as one of the “best places to start” with the famed AEOC, and while other recordings might be more accessible (Ex: Les Stances a Sophie, Comme à la radio with Brigitte Fontaine), this one is a great summary document of the group up until 1982. The Art Ensemble, soon entering its 6th decade as well, is continuing to create new music with new musicians under original members Roscoe Mitchell and Famoudou Don Moye’s guidance.

1990s

The Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra – Blu Blu Blu (1991)

I hemmed-and-hawed about including either this record or The Hearinga Suite (as my Muhal inclusion). I’ve always loved Abrams’s large ensemble work and his use of unconventional forms and voices. His synthesizer work on Blu Blu Blu is also notable, for the ways in which it blends in and out of this massive ensemble. Some of this music is as “bluesy” as the title suggests, with the title track being dedicated to Muddy Waters, while other tracks push into much stranger territory like the aptly named “Cycles Five.”

2000s

Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble – Xenogenesis Suite (2008)

This CMA-commissioned suite of music from Nicole Mitchell proved that Mitchell is simply one of the most exciting voices in contemporary music. Based on the works of Octavia Butler, Xenogeneis Suite delivers a surreal, science fiction-tinged set of music. This music grooves at times, breaks open at others, and Mitchell’s use of a a broad instrumental palette (voice, flute, trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass, drums, and percussion) is extremely effective in delivering both disorienting and vibrant counterpoint and harmony. 

2010s

Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg – Dirt… and More Dirt (2018)

For a long time, if you asked me “Orchid, what is your favorite album of all time?” My answer would probably be either Dirt… And More Dirt or Too Much Sugar for a Dime (by Threadgill’s 90s group Very Very Circus). As an arranger, this album is simply too exciting to ignore: two drums, bass, brass, three woodwinds, two pianos, harmonium, tuba, the palette is simply massive. Threadgill utilizes these musicians with intense restraint throughout this work, allowing them each to get a chance to shred on his dense, challenging intervallic system.

Bonus: 

Jack DeJohnette – Made in Chicago (2015): This list would not feel complete to me without it! This album features four musicians connected to the AACM’s earliest years: founder Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill on woodwinds, and Jack DeJohnette on drums (not to mention great contributions by bassist Larry Grey!). This is a special recording by a special band. I was lucky enough to catch this group perform shortly after the release of Made in Chicago at the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival. Their version of Mitchell’s “Chant,” is extremely dynamic, utilizing a simple motif to reach magnificent heights.