Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". The Penguin Guide to Jazz described him as "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz; All About Jazz stated in 2004 that he had been "at the forefront of modern music" for more than 35 years. Critic Jon Pareles in The New York Times has mentioned that Mitchell "qualifies as an iconoclast". In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Mitchell is known for cofounding the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
History
Early life
Mitchell, who is African American, was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While attending Englewood High School in Chicago, he furthered his study of the clarinet. In the 1950s, he joined the United States Army, during which time he was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany and played in military parades with fellow saxophonists Albert Ayler and Rubin Cooper, the latter of whom, Mitchell commented, "took me under his wing and taught me a lot of stuff". The Art Ensemble of Chicago have been described as becoming "possibly the most highly acclaimed jazz band" in the 1970s and 1980s. The group was based in East Lansing, Michigan and frequently performed in auditoriums at Michigan State University. Mitchell also formed the Sound Ensemble in the early 1970s, an "outgrowth of the CAC" in his words, that consisted mainly of Mitchell, Hugh Ragin, Jaribu Shahid, Tani Tabbal, and Spencer Barefield. and performed with a re-assembled Art Ensemble of Chicago. In 1999, the band was hit hard with the death of Bowie, but Mitchell fought off the urge to recast his position in the group, stating simply "You can't do that" in an interview with Allaboutjazz.com editor-in-chief Fred Jung. Mitchell was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in March 2012 in Minehead, England.
Teaching
Mitchell has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the California Institute of the Arts. From 2007 to 2019 Mitchell has taught at Mills College in Oakland, California. Among his notable students is Dave Soldier.
Awards and honors
The following are referenced from Mitchell's biography at the official AACM website.
- 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, Madison Committee for the Arts
- 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, Center for International Performance and Exhibition, Chicago
- Michigan State University matching grant
- Minnesota Composer's Forum
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Wisconsin Arts Board
Discography
thumb|At the 2017 [[Kongsberg Jazzfestival]]
With Art Ensemble of Chicago
{| class="wikitable"
! Title
! Year
! Label
|-
| Sound - Roscoe Mitchell Sextet
| 1966
| Delmark
|-
| Old/Quartet - Roscoe Mitchell
| 1967
| Nessa
|-
| Numbers 1 & 2 - Lester Bowie
| 1967
| Nessa
|-
| Early Combinations - Art Ensemble
| 1967
| Nessa
|-
| Congliptious - Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble
| 1968
| Nessa
|-
| A Jackson in Your House
| 1969
| Actuel
|-
| Tutankhamun
| 1969
| Freedom
|-
| The Spiritual
| 1969
| Freedom
|-
| People in Sorrow
| 1969
| Pathé-Marconi
|-
| Message to Our Folks
| 1969
| Actuel
|-
| Reese and the Smooth Ones
| 1969
| Actuel
|-
| Eda Wobu
| 1969
| JMY
|-
| Certain Blacks
| 1970
| America
|-
| Go Home
| 1970
| Galloway
|-
| Chi-Congo
| 1970
| Paula
|-
| Les Stances a Sophie
| 1970
| Pathé-Marconi
|-
| Live in Paris
| 1970
| Freedom
|-
| Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass
| 1970
| America
|-
| Phase One
| 1971
| America
|-
| Live at Mandell Hall
| 1972
| Delmark
|-
| Bap-Tizum
| 1972
| Atlantic
|-
| Fanfare for the Warriors
| 1973
| Atlantic
|-
| Kabalaba
| 1974
| AECO
|-
| Nice Guys
| 1978
| ECM
|-
| Live in Berlin
| 1979
| West Wind
|-
| Full Force
| 1980
| ECM
|-
| Urban Bushmen
| 1980
| ECM
|-
| Among the People
| 1980
| Praxis
|-
| The Complete Live in Japan
| 1984
| DIW
|-
| The Third Decade
| 1984
| ECM
|-
| Naked
| 1986
| DIW
|-
| Ancient to the Future
| 1987
| DIW
|-
| The Alternate Express
| 1989
| DIW
|-
| Art Ensemble of Soweto
| 1990
| DIW
|-
| America - South Africa
| 1990
| DIW
|-
| Thelonious Sphere Monk with Cecil Taylor
| 1990
| DIW
|-
| Dreaming of the Masters Suite
| 1990
| DIW
|-
| Live at the 6th Tokyo Music Joy with Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy
| 1991
| DIW
|-
| Fundamental Destiny with Don Pullen
| 1991
| AECO
|-
| Salutes the Chicago Blues Tradition
| 1993
| AECO
|-
| Coming Home Jamaica
| 1996
| Atlantic
|-
| Urban Magic
| 1997
| Musica Jazz
|-
| Tribute to Lester
| 2001
| ECM
|-
| Reunion
| 2003
| Around Jazz
|-
| The Meeting
| 2003
| Pi
|-
| Sirius Calling
| 2004
| Pi
|-
| Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City
| 2006
| Pi
|-
| We Are On the Edge
| 2019
| Pi
|-
| The Sixth Decade From Paris To Paris
| 2023
| Rogue Art
|}
Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound Ensemble
- Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancin' Shoes (Nessa, 1981)
- 3 x 4 Eye (Black Saint, 1981)
- Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound and Space Ensembles (Black Saint, 1983)
- Live at the Knitting Factory (Black Saint, 1987)
- Live in Detroit (Cecma, 1988)
Roscoe Mitchell and the Space Ensemble
- New Music For Woodwinds and Voice (1750 Arch, 1981)
- Roscoe Mitchell and the Sound and Space Ensembles (Black Saint, 1983)
- An Interesting Breakfast Conversation (1750 Arch, 1984)
Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory
- This Dance Is for Steve McCall (Black Saint, 1993)
- Nine to Get Ready (ECM, 1999)
- Song for My Sister (Pi, 2002)
- The Bad Guys (Around Jazz, 2003)
- Far Side with The Note Factory (ECM, 2010)
Solo Albums
- Solo Saxophone Concerts (Sackville, 1974)
- Nonaah (Nessa, 1976)
- L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples (Nessa, 1978)
- Live at the Muhle Hunziken (Cecma, 1986)
- Duets & Solos (Black Saint, 1993)
- Sound Songs (Delmark, 1997)
- Solo [3] (Mutable, 2004)
- Dots/Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds (Wide Hive, 2021)
Other ensembles
- Before There Was Sound (Nessa, 1965; 2011)
- Sound (Delmark, 1966)
- 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)
- More Cutouts (Cecma, 1981)
- The Flow of Things (Black Saint, 1986)
- Four Compositions (Lovely Music, 1987)
- Songs in the Wind (Victo, 1991)
- After Fallen Leaves (Silkheart, 1992)
- Duets & Solos (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)
- The Day and the Night (Dizim, 1997)
- In Walked Buckner (Delmark, 1999)
- 8 O'Clock: Two Improvisations (Mutable Music, 2001)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
References
External links
- All About Jazz: Roscoe Mitchell: In Search of the Super Musician Posted: 2004-01-08
- Roscoe Mitchell interview by Jason Gross (May 1998)
- Lovely Music Artist: Roscoe Mitchell
- Roscoe Mitchell Page at Wide Hive Records