Roscoe Mitchell, doyen of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, once said that the group carried the banner of the Association For The Advancement Of Creative Music (AACM) wherever it went. The use of the term ‘Associated’ for this anthology is thus not inconsequential, as it may well be a meaningful nod to the affinity that Mitchell and fellow bandmembers still have to that nucleus of musicians in the Windy City that has done much to empower the local black community, as well as artists who defy expectations thereof. The very principle of music that is able to strike the all-too elusive balance between individuality and commonality, whereby one and many work in deep complicity, makes the word ensemble – together – a key component of the acronyms AEC, a celebrated satellite of a revolutionary mothership. Gathered in this box set of 21 CDs is the complete AEC discography for ECM supplemented by solo recordings either by bandmembers, such as Mitchell and the late Lester Bowie, or by others also tied to the AACM, Wadada Leo Smith and Jack DeJohnette. Hence the cornucopia reaches outside one unit of players just as the AEC ethos goes beyond spatial and temporal boundaries; “great black music ancient to future” Early classics such as 1978’s Nice Guys, 1980’s Full Force and 1982’s Urban Bushmen make that point in no uncertain terms as the idea of the avant-garde gains real currency as resistance to any hoary industry gatekeepers who fail to see that partitioning of styles simply doesn’t apply to open minds.

The aforementioned discs, especially the latter, are chefs d’oeuvre insofar as they cross so coherently from African-American to African and Caribbean traditions, all the while retaining the strength of character of Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Malachi Favors and Famoudou Don Moye. Furthermore, AEC gives new meaning to the term multi-instrumentalist, with some sessions listing over 50 axes, underlining the notion that every musician is a percussionist and vocalist, as well as string or horn player. Which leads to the acreation of grand shifting and shimmering kaleidoscopes of sound in which texture can alter within and between compositions. While Mitchell’s solo efforts and collaborations with British kindred spirits such as Evan Parker (in The Transatlantic Art Ensemble) show how the desire to push toward unknown waters did not dry up in the 1990s and millennium, the AEC vocabulary that has been able to combine zippy humour and gravitas remained intact. The shriek of sirens, rattles, gongs and whistles that dots scores in which sublime improvisations grow from turbulent rubato, swing or marches that have the subversive smile of Sun Ra doing Walt Disney, is not superficial. All the time there is an earnest reflection of life experience, heritage and nostalgia, which is given a very danceable, accessible spin through the avant-pop of Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy. The spirited reprises of hits from Fats Waller and Whitney Houston are anything but glib. Yet if it’s a modern-day anthem you’re after then ‘Odwalla’ is the sweet stuff for thirsty ears. It’s the AEC signature tune, an old song that keeps the shock of the new.