Description
Flotation Device celebrates Roscoe Mitchell for his 85th birthday with a two-hour retrospective of this storied saxophonist, bandleader, composer—and co-founder and last surviving original member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. We trace the Ensemble from its origins in Mitchell's debut album Sound (which in 1966 gave the outside world with its first inkling of what the AACM in Chicago was up to), through its formative years in France, its return to the US, and ultimately its unique legacy whose impact was felt across the full range of contemporary Western art music, from composed music to jazz and the international free improv scene of the post-jazz era. We’ll also examine Mitchell’s later work outside the Art Ensemble, featuring musicians as diverse as Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, Craig Taborn, Tyshawn Sorey, Thomas Buckner, Pauline Oliveros, John Tilbury, Francesco Filidei and Weasel Walter, and culminating in his newest album, Gratitude, from 2025. With host Michael Schell.
