Art Ensemble of Chicago
The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little instruments": bells, bicycle horns, birthday party noisemakers, wind chimes, and various forms of percussion. The musicians would wear costumes and face paint while performing. These characteristics combined to make the ensemble's performances both aural and visual. While playing in Europe in 1969, five hundred instruments were used. History. After a concert at the Unitarian Church  in Evanston, Illinois, in fall, 1968, the group traveled to Paris. In Paris, the ensemble was based at the Théâtre des Vieux Colombier. Member Joseph Jarman described part of their style: Fifty years on. Joseph Jarman died on January 9, 2019 of respiratory failure. As of 2017-2019, the two remaining active members from 1968-2003, with new and previous collaborators as "guests", have been touring as the Art Ensemble of Chicago - 50th Anniversary Large Ensemble, and released an album in 2019: Guests: