"Well, remember that we were all members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians"
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The line lands like a casual footnote, but it’s really a thesis statement disguised as nostalgia. Joseph Jarman isn’t bragging about a credential; he’s reminding you that “we” came out of an ecosystem with a mission. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), founded in mid-1960s Chicago, wasn’t just a scene for experimental jazz. It was a self-governing infrastructure: rehearsals, concerts, mentorship, a code of seriousness about “creative music” as its own discipline rather than entertainment for hire.
Jarman’s “Well, remember” carries the tone of someone correcting the record. It suggests that listeners, critics, or historians keep framing the Art Ensemble of Chicago and their peers as eccentric outliers, mystical costumed radicals, or “free jazz” chaos merchants. His rejoinder is bureaucratically plain on purpose. Membership implies obligations: to compose, to study, to present original work, to build platforms when mainstream venues won’t. The subtext is that the innovation people romanticize was also organized labor and community governance.
The word “all” matters, too. It flattens individual genius into collective formation, emphasizing that the breakthroughs were not solitary lightning strikes but a shared curriculum of risk-taking and mutual accountability. In a culture that loves the myth of the lone visionary, Jarman points back to the institution that made the vision sustainable. It’s a reminder that freedom, in this tradition, wasn’t the absence of structure; it was the result of building one.
Jarman’s “Well, remember” carries the tone of someone correcting the record. It suggests that listeners, critics, or historians keep framing the Art Ensemble of Chicago and their peers as eccentric outliers, mystical costumed radicals, or “free jazz” chaos merchants. His rejoinder is bureaucratically plain on purpose. Membership implies obligations: to compose, to study, to present original work, to build platforms when mainstream venues won’t. The subtext is that the innovation people romanticize was also organized labor and community governance.
The word “all” matters, too. It flattens individual genius into collective formation, emphasizing that the breakthroughs were not solitary lightning strikes but a shared curriculum of risk-taking and mutual accountability. In a culture that loves the myth of the lone visionary, Jarman points back to the institution that made the vision sustainable. It’s a reminder that freedom, in this tradition, wasn’t the absence of structure; it was the result of building one.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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