AACM - Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians

June has arrived ☀️☀️

The AACM is excited for upcoming events happening across Chicago and beyond! Check out these events and save the date🗓️

Due to logistical issues the AACM Ubuntu Festival has been postponed. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. Keep your eye out for new dates coming soon!

✨ AACM UBUNTU FESTIVAL ✨

Join us for a powerful celebration of Black music, creativity, and community at the AACM Ubuntu Festival — June 26–28 & July 5.

Rooted in the spirit of “I am because we are,” this multi-day festival honors the legacy, innovation, and future of Great Black Music through unforgettable performances by an incredible lineup of AACM artists.

You do NOT want to miss this.

🎫 Get your tickets today by clicking the link in our profile or scan the QR code

ticket link: http://tickets.uchicago.edu/Online/article/aacm

📍 June 26–27 — Logan Center for the Arts
📍 July 5 — First Presbyterian Church

AACM Poetry Desk is back with Ugochi Nwaogwugwu with Jeff Harris and Shawn Wallace ✨✨

Join us May 20th at First Presbyterian Church for this immersive event of spoken word and music🎙️⭐️

✊🏿The Art of Persistence

Join us May 19th at 7pm for this event honoring the work and spirit of AACM, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, marking the 61st anniversary of the influential Chicago organization of Black musicians.

Ed Wilkerson—tenor sax and clarinet
Bethany Pickens—Piano
Chris Dammann – Bass
Dushun Mosely - Drums/Hand pan
Donovan Mixon—Jazz guitar

📍 Evanston’s Akar Auditorium (2715 Hurd Ave Evanston, IL)

Join us This Sunday for Ancestral Sonic Healing Collective ft. Dushun Mosley, Taalib-Din Ziyad, Carlos Pride, and Art “Turk” Burton💫🧘‍♂️

This performance is free and open to all. Meet us at First Presbyterian Church at 3:30pm for this musical healing experience 🔊

An audacious idea on its own, the AACM is at once a management firm, artistic salon, aesthetic manifesto, training ground for young musicians, and musical manifestation of black cultural nationalism. In short, it defies a short description. But what’s clear is this: It is the most illustrious jazz collective in history.

Chicago’s Unlikely Jazz Revolution: Inside the AACM’s 61-Year Legacy” By Salim Muwakkil – South Side Drive Magazine In one of Chicago’s most unlikely success stories, we find ourselves celebrating the 61st year of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a pathbreaking arts organization unlike any other in the history of jazz and one few thought would last a year. An audacious idea on i...