Roscoe Mitchell — Montréal Residency, Suoni per il Popolo (2008)

Role: Curated the solo performance and artist lecture-demonstration

The Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Associate for the Advancement of Creative Musicians stalwart and original member, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell gave his first solo performance in Montréal QC on June 22, 2008, in collaboration with Caribou Sonore, as part of the Suoni per il Popolo festival.

In addition to the performance, Mitchell, then the Darius Milhaud Professor of Composition at Mills College, also gave a public lecture-demonstration, discussing improvisation, the role of politics in jazz and contemporary music, and his growth and work as a performer-composer.

About Roscoe

Master saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (born in Chicago in 1940) is one of the great innovators in creative music of the post-Coltrane, post-Ayler era. He has for over 40 years been a restless explorer of new forms, ideas and concepts. In 1967 he founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago (originally the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble). Its motto – “Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future” – is vividly demonstrated on their ECM legacy, including the widely praised albums Nice Guys, Full Force, Urban Bushmen and Tribute To Lester. More recently Mitchell co-led the Transatlantic Art Ensemble with fellow saxophonist Evan Parker, which can be heard on Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3, and collaborated with Jack DeJohnette on Made In Chicago, celebrating the early days and continued relevance of the AACM.

Mitchell’s instrumental expertise extends through the full range of the saxophone and recorder families, as well as the flute, piccolo and clarinet. He has also been an innovator in percussion instrument design.

— ECM Records, artist bio