- Joseph Jarman
Infobox musical artist
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Name = Joseph Jarman
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
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Born = Birth date and age|1937|9|14|mf=y
Died =
Origin =Pine Bluff, Arkansas , US
Instrument = reeds
saxophone
percussion
Genre =jazz
Years_active = 1960s — present
Label =
Associated_acts = Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental BandArt Ensemble of Chicago Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians
Equal Interest
Notable_instruments =Joseph Jarman (b.
September 14 ,1937 inPine Bluff, Arkansas ), is ajazz musician ,composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of theAssociation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and theArt Ensemble of Chicago .Biography
Jarman grew up in
Chicago, Illinois . AtDuSable High School he studieddrum s withWalter Dyett , switching tosaxophone andclarinet when he joined theUnited States Army after graduation.cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:38qag40ttv6z~T1|title=Joseph Jarman biography at All Music Guide|author= Chris Kelsey|accessdate=2007-01-03|publisher=AllMusic.com] During his time there, he was part of the 11th Airborne Division Band for a year.cite web|url=http://www.jazzweekly.com/interviews/jarman.htm|title=A Fireside Chat with Joseph Jarman|author=Fred Jung|accessdate=2007-01-03|work=Jazz Weekly]The AACM and his solo band
After he was discharged from the army in 1958, Jarman attended Wilson Junior College, where he met
bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut and saxophonistsRoscoe Mitchell ,Henry Threadgill , andAnthony Braxton . These men would often perform long jam sessions at the suggestion of their professor Richard Wang (now with Illinois University). However, this was looked down upon by the administration, due in part to the rising political climate surrounding theVietnam War and strained race relations. Mitchell introduced Jarman topianist Muhal Richard Abrams , and Jarman, Mitchell, and Maghostut joined Abrams' Experimental Band, a private, non-performing ensemble, when that group was founded in 1961. The same group of musicians continued to play together in a variety of configurations, and went on to found theAssociation for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in 1965.Jarman's solo recording career began at this time with two releases on the
Delmark Label which included non-conforming recording methods, such as spoken word and "little instruments", the latter a technique that Jarman and Mitchell would use to effectiveness in the Art Ensemble. The band he fronted and used during these recordings between 1966 and 1968 includedCharles Clark (bass),Christopher Gaddy (piano ) andThurman Barker (drum s). However, in 1969 Clark and Gaddy both passed away and Jarman disbanded his group.The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Equal Interest
Shortly after his bandmates Clark and Gaddy died in 1969, Jarman joined Mitchell, Maghostut and
Lester Bowie (trumpet ) in the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble in 1967; the group would be later rounded out with the addition ofDon Moye on drums. This band eventually became known as theArt Ensemble of Chicago (AECO). The group was known for being costumed on stage for different reasons; Jarman wore facepaint and has mentioned that it "was sort of the shamanistic image coming from various cultures."cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/Perfect/jarman.html|title= Joseph Jarman|author=Jason Gross|date=October 1998|accessdate=2006-01-02|work=Perfect Sound Forever] The group moved to Paris in 1969 and lived there for many years in a commune that included Steve McCall, the great drummer who went on the form the jazz trio Air with Threadgill and bassistFred Hopkins . In 1983, he moved toNew York, New York from Chicago has lived there since that time.Jarman stayed with the Ensemble until 1993, when he left the group to focus on his spiritual practice, "a cleansing process" as he stated. The move wasn’t announced at first, leading fans to speculate about Jarman’s health when he didn’t appear on stage for an AECO
Thanksgiving weekend show at theKnitting Factory in 1994.cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=776|title= Joseph Jarman Interview|author= Kurt Gottschalk|accessdate=2007-01-03|work=All About Jazz] He didn't have much to do with music until 1996 when in January he recorded two CDs, TheScott Fields Ensembles' "48 Motives" and the concert, duo CD "Connecting Spirits" with Marilyn Crispell, which Fields produced. Later in the year his friend and fellow AACM peer Leroy Jenkins asked him to join a trio with him andMyra Melford in Chicago, which would eventually be called Equal Interest. Looking back on those three years without music, Jarman commented that "I didn't realize it, but it actually depressed me in many ways." He was then commissioned to write achamber orchestra piece, which led him to the realization of how to incorporate his Buddhist teachings into his music. Jarman returned to the AECO in January 2003 and continues to be a member in the band to this day as well as performing as part of Equal Interest. [cite web|url=http://www.artensembleofchicago.com/joseph.html|title=Joseph Jarman|accessdate=2007-06-09]Along with the saxophone and clarinet, Jarman also plays (and has recorded on) nearly every member of the
woodwind family, as well as a wide variety ofpercussion instrument s. Aside from his work with relatively traditional jazz lineups, he has composed for larger orchestras and createdmultimedia pieces for musicians and dancers.Spirituality
Jarman is most widely known for his musical accomplishments, but he has also been involved in the practice of
Zen Buddhism andaikido . He began studying in 1990 and visited various monasteries inEastern Asia , includingHigashi Honganji Honzon inKyoto, Japan . A few years later, he opened his own aikidodojo /zendo , Jikishinkan ("direct mind training hall"), inBrooklyn, New York . He is currently aJodo Shinshu priest, and holds a rank of godan (fifth degree black belt) in aikido.elected discography
* 1966 - "Song For" (Delmark)
* 1968 - "As If It Were The Seasons" (Delmark)
* 1977 - "Egwu-Anwo" (India Navigation) withDon Moye
* 1979 - Joseph Jarman/Don Moye Trio: "Black Paladins" (Black Saint) withJohnny Dyani
* 1981 - Joseph Jarman/Don Moye Quartet: "Earth Passage / Density" (Black Saint)
* 1996 - "Connecting Spirits" (Music & Arts) withMarilyn Crispell
* 1996 - "Pachinko Dream Track 10" (Music & Arts)
* 1997 - "Bright Moments - Return of the Lost Tribe" (Delmark) with Malachi Favors,Kahil El'Zabar References
External links
* [http://www.directmind.com/new_page_2.htm Aikido teacher profile]
* [http://www.artensembleofchicago.com/ Art Ensemble of Chicago web site]
* [http://www.soundnet.org/concerts/mov_refs/2003.shtml#JJ Solo concert on SASSAS sound. concert archive]
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