Child and adolescent psychiatry, sociocultural and community psychiatry Book

A superbly well written and thorough account of the coming into being of The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a co-operative which formed on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s and which brought together a group of open-minded and creative young people who would go on to establish themselves as some of the most innovative musicians in late 20th century America.Most prominent among those who guided the AACM was Muhal Richard Abrams, and George Lewis - who was himself a member and is now a well established trombonist and composer - has done a wonderful job in making the many achievements of this great man known to all those who care to listen.

For those, like me, who have enjoyed and admired the music of the first generation of AACM musicians, such as The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Amina Claudine Myers, and those of the more recent generation e.g. Nicole Mitchell, this is an invaluable book. I found the opening chapter which tells of the Great Migration of African-Americans from the southern states to cities in the north, such as Chicago, especially interesting, as all of the first-generation AACM founders were children of parents who had made that journey. In this chapter, and throughout the book, Lewis draws on theoretical writing to establish frameworks within which he can then examine the social, cultural and political circumstances of the lives of his subjects. It is typical of the book that his use of this theoretical writing is always apposite, lucid and illuminating. Lewis is also able to use a huge amount of material from interviews with all of the principal participants and material from the AACM archive.

The story of the AACM is astonishing in many ways, not least in how so much adversity was overcome, and in how, as in many significant artistic movements, time and conditions coincided to bring together a hugely talented group of people who improvised into being a revolution in music.