The Great Black Music Ensemble continues its extended residency at the Velvet Lounge with a special Saturday night appearance on June 21st. As a special guest, Jeff Parker will be making an appearance with the band.

Conducted by Mwata Bowden, the Great Black Music Ensemble has been playing the first two Sundays at the Velvet Lounge at 6 PM for almost a year. In addition to its regular appearances, they have featured special guests on several occassions: Matana Roberts, Nicole Mitchell, and Roscoe Mitchell amongst others.

Jeff Parker, an AACM member who has never appeared with the GBME will play with the band on Saturday, June 21st.

The Velvet Lounge is located at 67 E. Cermak Rd. - the concert begins at 9 PM.

Chicago Cultural Center Presents George Lewis

Tuesday, April 15, 4:15 - 5:45pm
Chicago Cultural Center, Cassidy Theater
78 E. Washington Street., Chicago
Free

George
Lewis: Composer, Musician and Author of "A Power Stronger Than Itself: A History of the AACM" talks about the rich history of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, an organization founded in Chicago in 1965. He will be joined by Nicole Mitchell and Douglas Ewart, the current leaders of the AACM for the discussion. The three musicians will also perform together. An event co-produced by the Masters of Arts Administration and Policy Department at the School of the Art Institute and the Chicago Cultural Center.

George Lewis, Edwin H. Case Professor of Music at Columbia University. He has taught at UC San Diego, Mills College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Arts Summer Institute. He has served as music curator for the Kitchen in New York, and has collaborated in the "Interarts Inquiry" and "Integrative Studies Roundtable" at the Center for Black Music Research (Chicago). A member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since 1971, Lewis studied composition with Muhal Richard Abrams at the AACM School of Music, and trombone with Dean Hey. An active composer, improvisor, performer and computer/installation artist, Lewis has explored electronic and computer music, computer-based multimedia installations, text-sound works, and notated forms.

His artistic work is documented in over 120 recordings and has been awarded by a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship, 1999 Cal Arts/Alpert Award in the Arts, and numerous fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His oral history is archived in Yale University's collection of "Major Figures in American Music," and his published articles on music, experimental video, visual art, and cultural studies have appeared in numerous scholarly journals and edited volumes.

Chicago Cultural Center: 312-744-6630

AACM CHICAGO invites you to
HONOR AND CELEBRATE MARTIN SPARX ALEXANDER
DATE: Sunday, January 13, 2008 TIME: 3-6pm
LOCATION: Velvet Lounge - 67 E. Cermak - Chicago, IL
MORE: AACM - Great Black Music Ensemble performs immediately after from 6-8pm
312-791-9050 for more information

Congratulations to AACM member Dee Alexander who has been named one of Chicago's People of the Year for 2007 by the Chicago Tribune.

You can read the full article and view a video of Dee here.

Several AACM members and ensembles returned from a series of performances in Poznan, Poland recently. Douglas Ewart and Inventions, featuring Douglas Ewart, Mwata Bowden, Edward Wilkerson, Darius Savage, Dushun Mosley, Mankwe Ndosi, and Dee Alexander were amongst the featured performers. This marks the second straight year AACM musicians have participated in the Made in Chicago festival, curated by Lauren Deutsch and Wojciech Juszczak, as last year saw Nicole Mitchell, Corey Wilkes, Ari Brown and others make the trip.