[NewMusicEvents] george lewis AACM book release tonight

[matt]

i don't think was ever posted here??



Readings at City Lights Bookstore

George E. Lewis
Tuesday, July 29, 2008, 7 pm


discussing

A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
published by University of Chicago Press

Founded in 1965 and still active today, the Association for the  
Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is an American institution  
with an international reputation. From its working-class roots on the  
South Side of Chicago, the AACM went on to forge an extensive legacy  
of cultural and social experimentation, crossing both musical and  
racial boundaries. The success of individual members and ensembles  
such as Muhal Richard Abrams, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Anthony  
Braxton has been matched by the enormous influence of the collective  
itself in inspiring a generation of musical experimentalists. George  
E. Lewis, who joined the collective as a teenager in 1971, establishes  
the full importance and vitality of the AACM with this communal  
history, written with a symphonic sweep that draws on a cross- 
generational chorus of voices and a rich collection of rare images.

Faced with shrinking economic opportunities in Chicago and a  
segregated music industry, the original members of the AACM found  
inspiration in the civil rights movement's call for change through  
self-determination and collective action. These musicians pooled their  
individual strengths in a new organization powerfully committed to a  
forward-thinking approach to musical creation and performance.  
Involving a range of experimental methods, from invented instruments  
and unusual musical scores to improvisation and the early use of  
computers, the AACM challenged the borders separating classical music  
and jazz.

Moving from Chicago to New York to Paris, and from founding member  
Steve McCall’s kitchen table to Carnegie Hall, A Power Stronger Than  
Itself uncovers a vibrant, multicultural universe and brings to light  
a major piece of the history of avant-garde music and art.Books  
related to this event:

A Power Stronger Than Itself
The AACM and American Experimental Music
George E. Lewis
Edition 2008
Founded in 1965 and still active today, the Association for the  
Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is an American institution  
with an international reputation. From its working-class roots on the  
South Side of Chicago, the AACM went on to forge...