AACM in Concert

Friday, October 16
8pm
Tickets: $20 Advance/$25 Door, Click here to purchase tickets

“I don’t stand to benefit when everybody is just trying to be like everyone else. All of us are highly individualized beings, different.” -Roscoe Mitchell

Pioneer Works is honored to present legendary saxophonist, composer, and founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Roscoe Mitchell, in a unique quintet with Scott Robinson (woodwinds), Thomas Buckner (baritone), Tani Tabbal (drums), and Gerald Cleaver (marimba and drums).

2015 marks the 50th birthday of the AACM, an all-black music collective that for the past 50 years has been an icon of innovation, self-determination, and creativity’s power to transcend social and political barriers. At Pioneer Works, the group’s legacy has also served as a unique model in its approach to community based, creative education, and is prominently featured in the current issue of our magazine, Intercourse.

Mr. Mitchell, an uncanny improvisor and composer of granite conviction who was interviewed for the article, has been making music since the 60s that defies genre and consistently expands the potentials of the form. His work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago (a group comprised of several AACM members) was renowned for their use of costume, audience participation, and hundreds of on-stage instruments. His orchestral compositions and small improvisational groups rely heavily on the use of silence, and sounds not commonly heard in jazz and classical music.

We are thrilled to have Mr. Mitchell perform for our audience, and are sure that his unique approach to music will continue to inspire generations as a model for creative practice.

Thomas Buckner
For more than 40 years, baritone Thomas Buckner has dedicated himself to the world of new and improvised music. Buckner has collaborated with a host of new music composers including the late Robert Ashley, Noah Creshevsky, Tom Hamilton, Earl Howard, Matthias Kaul, Leroy Jenkins, Bun Ching Lam, Annea Lockwood, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Wadada Leo Smith, Chinary Ung, Christian Wolff and many others. He has made solo appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Harvard University, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Edinburgh Festival, the Prague Spring Festival, and the Biennale Festival of Venice, presenting a repertoire that includes more than 100 compositions, written for, or dedicated to him. Buckner is featured on over 40 recordings, including six of his own solo albums. His most recent recording “Flowing Stream”, a trio collaboration with bassist Joelle Leandre and flutist Nicolle Mitchell, is available from Leo Records. He also appears on the newly released Mutable Music recording of Roscoe Mitchell’s concert music entitled “Not Yet”. Also active as a concert producer, Buckner has for the past twenty-five years produced the acclaimed Interpretations series in New York City.

Scott Robinson
One of today’s most wide-ranging instrumentalists, Scott Robinson has been heard on tenor sax with Buck Clayton’s band, on trumpet with Lionel Hampton’s quintet, on alto clarinet with Paquito D’Rivera’s clarinet quartet, and on bass sax with the New York City Opera. On these and other instruments including theremin and ophicleide, he has been heard with a cross-section of jazz’s greats representing nearly every imaginable style of the music, from Braff to Braxton. Primarily a tenor saxophonist, Scott placed directly below the great Sonny Rollins in this year’s DownBeat Readers Poll. Scott has been heard numerous times on film, radio and television, and his discography now includes more than 240 recordings. His releases as a leader have garnered five-star reviews from Leonard Feather, Down Beat Magazine and other sources worldwide, and have appeared in many “Best of the Year” lists. Scott’s collaborators on disc have included Frank Wess, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter, and Bob Brookmeyer, and he has been a member of Maria Schneider’s Orchestra for twenty years.

Tani Tbbal
Tani Tabbal began playing drums professionally as ateen, performing with Oscar Brown Jr., Phil Cohran, and Sun Ra and his Arkestra.

Tabbal has recorded, performed and toured with a wide range of musicians, including Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Geri Allen, Cassandra Wilson, James Carter,Karl Berger, Dewey Redman, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, Douglas Ewart, Oliver Lake,
Muhal Richard Abrams, Henry Threadgill, Richard Davis, Leroy Jenkins, Milt Jackson, and Jackie McLean.

Tani Tabbal is known as a dynamic, lyrical and energetic drummer. As a recording artist, he is on over 70 cd’s and has released three cd’s as a bandleader: Before Time After, Wizards and Mixed Motion.

Gerald Cleaver
Drummer Gerald Cleaver, born and raised in Detroit, is a product of the city’s rich music tradition. He earned a music education degree from the University of Michigan and taught public school in Detroit before joining the jazz faculty at both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Gerald moved to NYC in 2002. He has performed and recorded with Joe Morris, Mat Maneri, Roscoe Mitchell, Miroslav Vitous, Michael Formanek, Ralph Alessi, Jeremy Pelt, David Torn, Mario Pavone and Tomasz Stanko, among others.