Editorial
Roscoe Mitchell: Percussion Cage

Art Ensemble of Chicago, Banner and various instruments, including percussion cage, bass drum, counsel drums, horns, and assorted “little instruments”; overall dimensions variable. Courtesy of Roscoe Mitchell. Installation view, The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now, MCA Chicago, Jul 11–Nov 22, 2015.
Photo: Nathan Keay © MCA Chicago
Connections between music and art explored in The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now come alive this weekend in several performances by Chicago-based musician and artist Roscoe Mitchell, whose work is included in the exhibition. Mitchell has played a huge part in the history of Chicago jazz, helping found the the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) as well as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. On Saturday, September 26, he activates his sculpture/instrument—Percussion Cage—at an event that’s free with admission; in the video here you can see the work being installed by assistants, then played by Mitchell. If you can’t join us Saturday, attend one of two performances at MCA Stage the next day, when Mitchell performs with no less than four trios in two concerts in an all-out, one-day event.
