Sound Experiments

More about the book

This groundbreaking study explores the influential music of Chicago’s AACM, a pivotal organization in jazz and experimental music since its founding in 1965. Paul Steinbeck conducts an in-depth historical and musical investigation of the collective, analyzing individual performances and formal innovations. He highlights compositions by key figures such as Muhal Richard Abrams and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith, and Henry Threadgill, alongside emerging AACM members like Mike Reed, Tomeka Reid, and Nicole Mitchell. This work presents a sonic history spanning six decades, offering insights into both the musicians and their remarkable collective aesthetic. This aesthetic is rooted in fostering communal ties across generations and a commitment to experimentalism. The AACM’s compositions blurred the lines between jazz and experimental music while making significant contributions to African American expression. Steinbeck illustrates how these creators pioneered innovative approaches to instrumentation, notation, conducting, musical form, and technology, ultimately shaping new soundscapes in contemporary music.