The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble closely identified with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) since the mid 1960s. The group continues to tour and record, despite the deaths of two of the founding members. The original lineup was founder Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman on reeds, Lester Bowie on trumpet, and Malachi Favors on bass. They worked with a succession of drummers recruited from Chicago and St.