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Abstract
This dissertation is an analytical and interpretive study of the Art Ensemble of Chicago's distinctive multi-disciplinary performance practice. In this dissertation I analyze and interpret three pivotal Art Ensemble performances: a 1969 studio album, a 1972 concert audio recording, and a 1981 concert video. I contend that Art Ensemble performances are structured around compositional/improvisational "interactive frameworks," which encompass the music-structural, the interpersonal, and the multimedia qualities of Art Ensemble performance practice. I also show that the members of the Art Ensemble articulate interactive frameworks in performance primarily through group-interactive processes of "convergence" and "divergence." Throughout the dissertation, I historically and culturally contextualize Art Ensemble performance practice by chronicling the social and artistic scenes experienced by the band: Chicago's Bronzeville, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), 1960s bohemian cultures and the Black Arts Movement, Vietnam War-era Paris, and the international experimental-music scene. This dissertation breaks new ground as the most extensive study of the Art Ensemble's music and as a comprehensive cultural history of the group.
