Roscoe Mitchell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roscoe Mitchell
Mitchell at the German Jazz Festival, 2015
Background information
Born	(1940-08-03) August 3, 1940 (age 84) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone flute
Years active	1960s–present
Associated acts	Art Ensemble of Chicago Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians

Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American musician, composer, and teacher. He is famous for playing the saxophone and for his unique style in jazz music. Many people say he is one of the most important figures in a type of jazz called avant-garde jazz. This means he helped create new and experimental sounds.

Mitchell has been a leader in modern music for over 35 years. He is also known for starting two important music groups: the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Discovering Music: Roscoe Mitchell's Early Life

Mitchell was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He started playing the saxophone and clarinet when he was about twelve years old. Music was always a big part of his family life. Many different styles of music were played in his home. His brother, Norman, was the one who first showed him jazz music.

While in high school, he continued to study the clarinet. In the 1950s, he joined the United States Army. He was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. There, he played in military parades with other saxophonists like Albert Ayler. He also learned a lot from another musician, Rubin Cooper. Mitchell even studied with the main clarinet player of the Heidelberg Symphony while in Germany.

In the early 1960s, Mitchell returned to the United States. He moved back to Chicago. He played in a band with other young musicians. These included Malachi Favors (bass), Joseph Jarman, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton (all saxophonists). Mitchell also studied with Muhal Richard Abrams. He joined Abrams' band, the Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band, in 1961.

Shaping Jazz: AACM and the Art Ensemble of Chicago

In 1965, Mitchell became one of the first members of a special music group. This group was called the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). It was a non-profit organization that helped musicians create new sounds. Other early members included Jodie Christian (piano) and Steve McCall (drums).

The next year, Mitchell and other musicians recorded their first album, Sound. This album was different from other jazz music at the time. The band used unusual things like toys and bicycle horns in their recordings.

From 1967, Mitchell, Lester Bowie (trumpet), and Favors played together. Sometimes Jarman also joined them. They first called themselves the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble. Later, they became the Art Ensemble. Finally, in 1969, they were known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

The group lived and performed in Europe from 1969 to 1971. They did not have a drummer at first. So, Mitchell said they learned to play percussion themselves. Later, they found a drummer named Don Moye. For their shows, the band often wore bright costumes and painted their faces. The Art Ensemble of Chicago became one of the most famous jazz bands in the 1970s and 1980s.

New Directions: Creative Arts Collective and Beyond

Mitchell at the Moers Festival, 2009

Mitchell and the Art Ensemble returned to the United States in 1971. After three years back in Chicago, Mitchell started a new group in 1974. It was called the Creative Arts Collective (CAC). This group had a similar musical style to the AACM. The CAC was based in East Lansing, Michigan. They often performed at Michigan State University.

In the early 1970s, Mitchell also formed the Sound Ensemble. This group grew out of the CAC. It included Mitchell, Hugh Ragin, Jaribu Shahid, Tani Tabbal, and Spencer Barefield.

In the 1990s, Mitchell began to explore classical music. He worked with composers and artists like Pauline Oliveros. He also formed a trio called Trio Space with Thomas Buckner and Borah Bergman. In 1992, he created the Note Factory. This was another step in the evolution of the Sound Ensemble.

Mitchell lived in Madison, Wisconsin and continued to perform with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. In 1999, Lester Bowie passed away. This was a big loss for the band. But Mitchell decided the group should continue. He said, "You can't do that," meaning you can't just replace a member like Bowie. The band kept playing despite the loss.

Mitchell also makes sure to work with younger musicians. Many of these players were not even born when his first recordings were made. These younger artists include trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Karl E. H. Seigfried.

In 2007, Mitchell became a professor at Mills College in Oakland, California. He was named the Darius Milhaud Chair of Composition. He still lives there today. In 2012, he was chosen by Jeff Mangum to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England.

Sharing Knowledge: Roscoe Mitchell as a Teacher

Roscoe Mitchell has taught music at several universities. He taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also taught at the California Institute of the Arts. From 2007 to 2019, Mitchell taught at Mills College in Oakland, California. One of his well-known students is David Sulzer.

Achievements: Awards and Honors

Roscoe Mitchell has received many awards and honors for his amazing musical work. Here are some of them:

Awards

• DownBeat magazine: Talent Deserving Wider Recognition
• DownBeat magazine: Best Jazz Group (for the Art Ensemble of Chicago)
• DownBeat magazine: Record of the Year (for his album Nonaah)
• Madison Music Legend, Madison magazine
• Certificate of Appreciation from St. Louis Public Schools
• Certificate of Appreciation for the Art Ensemble of Chicago (Smithsonian Institution)
• Honorary Citizen of Atlanta, Georgia
• International Jazz Critics Poll
• Jazz Personality of the Year, City of Madison, Wisconsin
• Image Award, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• Jazz Master, National Endowment for the Arts
• Outstanding Service to Jazz Education Award, National Association of Jazz Educators

Grants

• Arts Midwest Jazz Masters
• Comnicut Foundation
• Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission Project Grant
• Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award (1996)
• Institut de Recherche at Coordination Acoustique Musique, Paris, France
• Madison Festival of the Lakes Grant
• Meet the Composer, Cultural Series Grant
• Michigan State University matching grant
• Minnesota Composer's Forum
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Wisconsin Arts Board

Music Collection: Discography

At the 2017 Kongsberg Jazzfestival

Roscoe Mitchell has released many albums, both with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and as a solo artist or with other groups. Here are some of his recordings:

With Art Ensemble of Chicago

Solo albums and other ensembles

• Before There Was Sound (Nessa, 1965; 2011)
• Sound (Delmark, 1966)
• Solo Saxophone Concerts (Sackville, 1974)
• Roscoe Mitchell Quartet (Sackville, 1976)
• Nonaah (Nessa, 1976)
• Duets with Anthony Braxton (Sackville, 1977)
• L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples (Nessa, 1978)
• Sketches from Bamboo (Moers Music, 1979)
• Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes (Nessa, 1981)
• 3 x 4 Eye (Black Saint, 1981)
• More Cutouts (Cecma, 1981)
• Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound and Space Ensembles (Black Saint, 1983)
• An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (1750 Arch, 1984)
• The Flow of Things (Black Saint, 1986)
• Live at the Muhle Hunziken (Cecma, 1986)
• Live at the Knitting Factory (Black Saint, 1987)
• Four Compositions (Lovely Music, 1987)
• Live in Detroit (Cecma, 1988)
• Songs in the Wind (Victo, 1991)
• After Fallen Leaves (Silkheart, 1992)
• Duets & Solos (Black Saint, 1993)
• This Dance Is for Steve McCall (Black Saint, 1993)
• The Italian Concert (with Borah Bergman) (Soul Note, 1994)
• Hey Donald (Delmark, 1995)
• First Meeting (Knitting Factory, 1995)
• Pilgrimage (Lovely Music, 1995)
• Sound Songs (Delmark, 1997)
• The Day and the Night (Dizim, 1997)
• Nine to Get Ready (ECM, 1999)
• In Walked Buckner (Delmark, 1999)
• 8 O'Clock: Two Improvisations (Mutable Music, 2001)
• Song for My Sister (Pi, 2002)
• The Bad Guys (Around Jazz, 2003)
• Solo [3] (Mutable, 2004)
• First Look, Chicago Duos (Southport, 2005)
• Turn (RogueArt, 2005)
• No Side Effects (RogueArt, 2006)
• Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 with Evan Parker (ECM, 2007)
• Contact (RogueArt, 2007)
• Spectrum (Mutable, 2010)
• Far Side with The Note Factory (ECM, 2010)
• Numbers (RogueArt, 2011)
• Three Compositions with Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble (RogueArt, 2012)
• Duets with Tyshawn Sorey and Special Guest Hugh Ragin (Wide Hive, 2013)
• Improvisations (Otoroku, 2013) with Tony Marsh and John Edwards
• Conversations I (Wide Hive Records, 2014) with Craig Taborn and Kikanju Baku
• Conversations II (Wide Hive Records, 2014) with Craig Taborn and Kikanju Baku
• In Pursuit of Magic (482 Music, 2014) with Mike Reed
• Angel City (RogueArt, 2014) Roscoe Mitchell Trio with James Fei & William Winant
• Celebrating Fred Anderson (Nessa, 2015)
• Four Ways (Nessa, 2017) with Yuganaut
• Bells for the South Side (ECM, 2017)
• Discussions (Wide Hive Records, 2017)
• Accelerated Projection (RogueArt, 2018) with Matthew Shipp
• Ride the Wind (Nessa, 2018)
• Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra Littlefield Concert Hall Mills College (Wide Hive Records, 2019)
• Flow States (ScienSonic, 2020) with Marshall Allen, Milford Graves, and Scott Robinson
• Distant Radio Transmission (Wide Hive, 2020)
• Dots/Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds (Wide Hive, 2021)
• One Head Four People (Wide Hive, 2024)

As sideman

With Anthony Braxton

• Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
• For Trio (Arista, 1978)

With Jodie Christian

• Rain or Shine (Delmark, 1994)
• Soul Fountain (Delmark, 1998)

With Jack DeJohnette

• Made in Chicago (ECM, 2013 [2015]) with Muhal Richard Abrams, Larry Gray and Henry Threadgill

With Sunny Murray

• Sunshine (BYG, 1969)

With Evan Parker

• Boustrophedon (ECM, 2004)

With Mike Reed's Loose Assembly

• Empathetic Parts (482 Music, 2010)

With Matthew Shipp

• 2-Z (2.13.61, 1996)

With Alan Silva

• Seasons (BYG, 1971)

With Wadada Leo Smith

• Budding of a Rose (Moers Music, 1979)