The Black Artists Group (BAG) was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in
St. Louis, Missouri, from 1968 to 1972. BAG is known for the convergence of free jazz and experimental theater.
Members
Members included saxophonists
Julius Hemphill
Julius Arthur Hemphill (January 24, 1938 – April 2, 1995) was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.
Biography
Hemphill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, ...
,
,
J. D. Parran
J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvisation. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, ...
,
Hamiet Bluiett, and
Luther Thomas
image:Dizzazz.jpg, 200px, Dizzazz in June 1981. From left to right : Luther Thomas (as), Danny Petroni (g), Donald Nicks (bass), Marvin Neal (tb), Warren Benbow (drums), John K. Mulkerin (tp) and Billy "Spaceman" Paterson (g)
Luther Thomas was an ...
; trumpeters
Baikida Carroll and
Floyd LeFlore
Floyd LeFlore (1940–2014) was a jazz composer, trumpet player, and poet from St. Louis. In 1968, LeFlore helped to found the Black Artists Group (BAG).
Biography
LeFlore was the nephew of Clarence "Bucky" Jarman, a guitarist also of St. Louis. I ...
; trombonist
Joseph Bowie;
drummers
Bensid Thigpen and
Charles "Bobo" Shaw
Charles Wesley "Bobo" Shaw (September 5, 1947 – January 16, 2017) was an American free jazz drummer, known as a prominent member of the Human Arts Ensemble and Black Artists Group. He was born in Pope, Mississippi, United States.
Charles "Bob ...
;
bassist Bobby Reed,
Arzinia Richardson; stage directors
Malinke Robert Elliott
Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...
,
Vincent Terrell, and
Muthal Naidoo; actors
LeRoi S. Shelton; poets
Ajule (Bruce) Rutlin and
Shirley LeFlore; dancers
Georgia Collins and
Luisah Teish; and painters
Emilio Cruz and
Oliver Lee Jackson
Oliver Lee Jackson (born 1935) is an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and educator. He was a professor at the California State University, Sacramento from 1971 until 2002 and was one of the founders of the Pan African Studies program at th ...
. While Jackson was not officially a member, he was deeply involved with BAG and is usually listed as a member. In addition,
Ronnie Burrage was considered one of the youngest members (11 and 12 years old) of BAG as he began to perform with various members in 1971 and 1972.
History
Members Oliver Lake, Lester Bowie, and Floyd LeFlore studied music in the jazz program at
Sumner High School. They continued music education at
Lincoln University alongside Julius Hemphill. Several members were drafted into military service, and all played music in St. Louis through the 1960s. Frustration with discrimination and limited opportunities brought the musical artists together with black actors marginalized from the theater scene, and they began collaborating on artistic productions around
LaClede Town
LaClede Town was a mixed-income, federally funded housing project in St. Louis, Missouri. Located near St. Louis University, it opened in 1964. It incorporated a mix of housing types and had spaces dedicated to social interaction and artistic prod ...
, the
Circle Coffee Shop, and
Berea Church Berea may refer to:
Places Greece
* Beroea, a place mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, now known as Veria or Veroia
Lesotho
* Berea District
Romania
* Berea, a village in Ciumești Commune, Satu Mare County
* Berea, a tributary of the Va ...
.
While strongly influenced by
Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Black Artists Group was unique in including artists from dance, theater, visual arts, and creative writing. They incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under the name "The Black Artists' Group, Inc" in 1968.
BAG received major grant funding from the
Danforth Foundation and the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
. In July 1969, the group paid $1 annual rent for a building at 2665 Washington Blvd.
Many of the BAG members relocated to Paris and then New York in the 1970s.
A recording of a 1973 performance in Paris was released on an LP titled ''
In Paris, Aries 1973
''In Paris, Aries 1973'' is a live album by the Black Artists Group, featuring saxophonist Oliver Lake, trumpeters Baikida Carroll and Floyd LeFlore, trombonist Joseph Bowie, and drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw. The album was recorded in 1973 in Paris ...
'', the only album ever issued under the BAG name.
Legacy
BAG inspired other groups and artistic collectives to form around the United States and influenced
Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
,
Julius Hemphill
Julius Arthur Hemphill (January 24, 1938 – April 2, 1995) was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.
Biography
Hemphill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, ...
and
Hamiet Bluiett formed the
African Continuum and organized the 1971 multimedia concert "Images: Sons/Ancestors" at
Powell Symphony Hall, which was delayed by a bomb threat.
They went on to form the
World Saxophone Quartet and were notable in the "loft-jazz" scene of New York's underground in the 1980s.
See also
*
Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The movement expanded from ...
*
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
References
External links
BAG pagefrom
Washington University in St. Louis site
* Ben Looker
"A City Built to Music" ''The Commonspace'', December 2004. Article on BAG's music wing.
*Benjamin Looker
"Poets of Action: The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972" AllAboutJazz, December 19, 2004.
*
*
*
{{Authority control
American jazz ensembles from Missouri
Black Artists' Group
The Black Artists Group (BAG) was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1968 to 1972. BAG is known for the convergence of free jazz and experimental theater.
Members
Members included saxophonists Julius ...
Musical collectives
American artist groups and collectives
Musical groups established in 1968
Musical groups disestablished in 1972
American art movements
Organizations based in St. Louis
Jazz organizations
African-American arts organizations
Jazz musicians from Missouri