CHICAGO--The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), internationally recognized as the foremost experimental music collective of our time, is commemorating its 40th Anniversary with two days of celebration: Saturday, May 7, at 2 pm, at the Chicago Cultural Center; and Sunday, May 8, at 2 pm, at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

On May 8, 1965, a cadre of Chicago's most forward-thinking musician-composers, led by pianists Jodie Christian and Muhal Richard Abrams, drummer Steve McCall, and trumpeter Kelan Phil Cohran, gathered on Chicago's South Side to found the AACM as an artist-run organization dedicated to developing and promoting original music.

Right from the start, the AACM positioned itself at the forefront of musical innovation, and its members have long been recognized for their influence on 20th-Century music. Drawing on a wide range of musical styles, AACM members have created new notation systems, extended techniques and new technologies, invented instruments, kinetic sculptures, and much more, creating a composite approach that has come to be known around the world as "Great Black Music: Ancient to the Future."

Accordingly, this 40th Anniversary Festival program celebrates the past, present and future of the AACM's many innovations in composition and creative improvised music.

On Saturday, May 7, at 2:00 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., the first day of celebration will feature the AACM Experimental Chamber Ensemble, with flutist Nicole Mitchell, reedists Douglas R. Ewart, Edward Wilkerson, Mwata Bowden, and Ari Brown, pianist and vocalist Ann Ward, and drummer Dushun Mosley. Admission is free.

On Sunday, May 8, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. the second day of celebration will begin at 2:00 p.m. with a performance by students of the AACM School of Music.

Founded in 1968, the AACM School of Music, now directed by Ann Ward, continues to meet the challenge of providing free music training for urban youth, as well as introducing young people to new musical concepts. AACM member musicians have traditionally volunteered their services to the school (where many of them were once students), thereby strengthening and continuing cultural and musical traditions.

Following this performance, a panel discussion, "Dialogue: Historical Perspectives," will provide firsthand accounts of the AACM’s grand forty-year trajectory, with Nicole Mitchell, Ann Ward, reedists Shaku Joseph Jarman and Douglas R. Ewart, trombonist, electronic musician, and AACM chronicler George E. Lewis, and vocalist Rita Warford. At 6:30 that evening, a reception and silent auction will be held, providing light refreshments, a chance to meet AACM musicians, and an opportunity to bid on rare artifacts and artwork.

Sunday evening's concert program begins at 7:30 pm, and features seven exciting groupings of AACM members from its two chapters in Chicago and New York, together with guest artists who have been strongly influenced by the music and history of the AACM.

The AACM Fire Trio includes AACM cofounder, pianist Jodie Christian, New York-based AACM drummer Reggie Nicholson, and one of Chicago’s true reed masters, Ari Brown, providing textures both subtle and strong. The next performance features the first-ever performance of a duo between George E. Lewis and Ann Ward, followed by Edward Wilkerson’s spirited Chicago-based ensemble, 8 Bold Souls, which will feature the internationally revered saxophonist and original AACM member Fred Anderson.

Nicole Mitchell, a member of the AACM's most recent generation, will appear with her Black Earth Ensemble (which features several of the AACM's younger musicians). The performance will also feature as special guests flutist James Newton and vocal master Dee Alexander. Also appearing will be a quintet comprised of Douglas R. Ewart, Mwata Bowden, Edward Wilkerson, Rita Warford, and a special guest, saxophonist-composer Oliver Lake, co-founder of the St. Louis Black Artists Group. Following this performance, a quartet comprised of trombonist Isaiah Jackson, trumpeter Corey Wilkes, drummer Vincent Davis, and percussionist Art "Turk" Burton will appear.

The evening will culminate in a performance by the Great Black Music Ensemble, a large creative orchestra including AACM members from all periods, whose repertoire constitutes a living archive of compositions created by AACM members throughout the organization's history. The Great Black Music Ensemble reflects the very beginnings of the AACM, when founder Muhal Richard Abrams created the Experimental Band in 1965 as a way for creative musicians to meet and develop new music on a regular basis. Today's AACM Great Black Music Ensemble continues this tradition, and will feature AACM original member Joseph Jarman and kindred spirit Oliver Lake.

For tickets ($20/$16) call the MCA box office at 312-397-4010, or buy online at www.mcachicago.org.

For more information, call 312-922-1900, or visit our website atwww.mcachicago.org.

The AACM 40th Anniversary Festival is supported by The Boeing Company, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Museum of Contemporary Art.