Roscoe Mitchell

Born: August 3, 1940

One of the top saxophonists to come out of Chicago's AACM movement of the mid-'60s, Roscoe Mitchell is a particularly strong and consistently adventurous improviser long associated with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. After getting out of the military, Mitchell led a hard bop sextet in Chicago (1961) which gradually became much freer. He was a member of Muhal Richard Abrams's Experimental Band and a founding member of the AACM in 1965. Mitchell's monumental Sound album (1966) introduced a new way of freely improvising, utilizing silence as well as high energy and "little instruments" as well as conventional horns

Jon Irabagon / PlainsPeak: Someone to Someone

by Jack Kenny
August 15, 2025

Jon Irabagon is a musician whose complexity is both exhilarating and daunting. His restless energy, deep self-reflection, remarkable achievements and sharp intellect combine to create a figure who constantly provokes questions--about music, originality and the very nature of artistic expression. In 2011, Irabagon undertook a bold experiment: With Mostly Other People Do The Killing, ...

Stefan Keune / Sandy Ewen / Damon Smith: Two Felt-Tip Pens: Live At Moers

by Mark Corroto
July 29, 2025

This recording from the Moers Festival in May 2023, Germany, is dedicated to the late Hans Schneider. Bassist and label curator Damon Smith has made it a lifelong practice to seek out and collaborate with his musical heroes, a list that includes Jaap Blonk, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Kaiser and Vinny Golia. Naturally, that list also honors ...

Vision Festival 2025

by Luciano Rossetti
July 10, 2025

Overs��ez, Roscoe Mitchell, Marco Eneidi & Gulliver

by Maurice Hogue
July 7, 2025

Featured music in this episode begins with German pianist Sandro Sáez and his trio Overs��ez. What an exciting and original trio! Their ablum Abstract Emotions is filled with mystery, unexpected twists and turns, power and subtlety. Definitely worth checking out. Then you might want to listen to One Head Four People, featuring the enduring master,Roscoe Mitchell, ...

Attentive listening suggested! Terry Riley, Ingrid Laubrock, Roscoe Mitchell and Kaze with Koichi Makigami

by Hobart Taylor
June 25, 2025

This week we explore the peripheries of jazz featuring composer Terry Riley who turns 90 this year, contemplate musical and literal koans from Ingrid Laubrock and friends, receive “Transmissions" from Roscoe Mitchell, join Wadada Leo Smith with Amina Claudine Myers on a “Central Park" ramble, and then there's Kaze with Koichio Makigami Playlist Host ...

Jason Stein: Anchors

by Giuseppe Segala
May 26, 2025

Il clarinetto basso vanta nel jazz contemporaneo una rosa di solisti eccellenti, a partire da Eric Dolphy, che ha letteralmente inventato un modo di interpretare lo strumento, di valorizzarne colori e incisivit�� espressiva. Per�� la sua frequentazione, con lo stesso Dolphy e con personalit�� quali Michel Portal, John Surman, Vinny Golia, Marty Ehrlich, Don Byron, si ...

The Musings of Matthew Shipp: Black Mystery School Pianists And Other Writings

by Mark Corroto
April 6, 2025

Black Mystery School Pianists And Other Writings Matthew Shipp93 Pages ISBN: # 978-1-57027-435-0Automedia2025 Whether you own one Matthew Shipp album or 250, his music inevitably raises the question: Where does his artistic vision originate? Understanding any artist is complex, but with someone as innovative as Shipp, deciphering his musical ...

Roscoe Mitchell: One Head Four People

by Fran Kursztejn
February 7, 2025

"I'm always trying to take what's there and, in the end, make it sound like nothing's missing from it," Roscoe Mitchell relates in a 2016 interview, in relation to his string of European solo concerts, yet the statement is just as relevant to the jazz giant's newest studio release, One Head Four People, as any other. ...

Martin Archer & Walt Shaw: Biyartabiyu

by John Sharpe
January 30, 2025

Will the real Martin Archer stand up? The head honcho of the Sheffield-located Discus imprint appears in such a variety of guises that one never quite knows what to expect from his name on the sleeve. However, as the press materials make clear, this unadorned saxophone and drum duo finds Archer in his natural habitat, channeling ...