The Human Arts Ensemble was a 1970s musical collective operating in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. Members explored

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

and loosely associated themselves with the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devote ...

(AACM) and the

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 ...

(BAG) collective. It was formed in 1971 with the idea that performers could perform in the ensemble, without restrictions as to the performer's race. Additionally, public funding had ended for musical associations that were suspected of having connections with radical organizations. It disbanded in 1977. Allmusic history/ref> Human Arts Ensemble co-founder,

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

James Marshall, continues to pursue the vision of HAE to this day in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Originally, after its activity in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Jim and his then wife (and HAE co-founder) Carol, moved to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

to continue the project there in the context of a musician's commune. Unfortunately, neither the marriage (they're still friends) nor the commune lasted. However, when Jim moved to Tucson, Arizona, he continued to pursue his vision of free form and soulful

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

. Jim worked closely with another partner from the St. Louis days—Ajule Eneke Rutlin, who died suddenly in 2006. Ajule had been associated with the

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 ...

, which inspired the foundation of HAE, and was also a founding member of HAE. The Human Arts Ensemble was not only committed to the beauty that can emerge from humans interacting freely and without restriction, but it also consciously, from the beginning, saw its music as a direct, soulful contradiction to a world of hate produced by racism, consumerism, greed, and war. To this day, the new incarnation of HAE that exists in Tucson still maintains that vision. During the 90's Human Arts Ensemble played benefits to raise money for

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i civilians suffering under the effect of US/ UN sanctions, and HAE members have regularly performed at anti-war protests.

Discography

*1972: ''Whisper of Dharma'' (

Freedom Records Freedom Records was a jazz record label headed by Shel Safran and founded by Alan Bates as a division of Black Lion Records. Individual recordings were distributed via Polydor Records and Transatlantic Records during the early 1970s before the ...

) *1973: ''Under the Sun'' (Freedom) *1974: ''Streets Of St. Louis'' as Charles Bobo Shaw with Human Arts Ensemble (Moers Music) *1978: ''Live In Trio Performance Vols. 1 & 2'' (

Circle Records (Germany) Circle Records was a West German jazz record label established in 1976. Circle Records Germany has been relaunched and continued its activities in 2022 by restoring and remastering their originals such as releasing the Chet Baker Paris recording ...

) *1978: ''Junk Trap'' as Charles Bobo Shaw with Human Arts Ensemble (

Black Saint Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

)

References

{{Authority control Musical collectives Freedom Records artists American jazz ensembles from Missouri Arts organizations based in Missouri Musical groups from St. Louis Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 1971 establishments in Missouri 1977 disestablishments in Missouri Jazz musicians from Missouri