# In memoriam Joseph Jarman: Saxophonist, Composer, Poet dead at 81: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/01/11/in-memoriam-joseph-jarman-saxophonist-composer-poet-dead-at-81-video/
- Published: 2019-01-11T20:45:53+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**While attending high school in Chicago in the early ’50s, Jarman took up the drums
under the tutelage of the famous music teacher Walter Dyett. He switched to saxophone
and clarinet while in the army. Upon his discharge in 1958, he returned to Chicago.**

There, he joined pianist Muhal Richard Abrams’ Experimental Band (formed in 1961),
alongside his future Art Ensemble compatriots Malachi Favors and Mitchell. Jarman
played in a hard bop sextet with Mitchell, and in 1965, he became one of the first
members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

Starting around 1967, Jarman was one of the first saxophonists to perform solo, 
a tactic also embraced by other members of the AACM, notably Anthony Braxton. Jarman
led his own group from 1966-1968, which included bassist Charles Clark, drummer 
Thurman Barker, and pianist Christopher Gaddy, among others. Separate editions of
that band recorded a pair of albums for Delmark: Song for… (1966) and As if it were
the Seasons (1968).

In 1967, Lester Bowie recorded Numbers 1 & 2 for Nessa; on “2,” the four musicians
who would become the Art Ensemble (Bowie, Mitchell, Favors, and Jarman) recorded
together for the first time. In 1969, that band would become Jarman’s primary creative
outlet. By then, the untimely deaths of Gaddy and Clark had compelled Jarman to 
disband his own group. Jarman would continue with the Art Ensemble until 1993. In
that time, he also recorded under his own name, for the Black Saint, AECO, and India
Navigation labels. Upon leaving the Art Ensemble, Jarman virtually retired from 
music, in order to devote himself more completely to spiritual matters. As the ’
90s progressed, however, he did continue to perform and record, often as a guest
with such musicians as Marilyn Crispell, guitarist/ composer Scott Fields, bassist
Reggie Workman, and drummer Lou Grassi.

![Joseph Jarman, 1977 (Tom Copi/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)](https://i0.
wp.com/media.pitchfork.com/photos/5c38d9aa24005742dbcd1a3f/2%3A1/w_790/Joseph%20Jarman.
png?w=640&ssl=1)

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