The Art Ensemble of Chicago

The AEC Is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago in the late 1960s. Art ensemble is notable for its integration of musical styles that span jazzes entire history and further multi-instrumentalism. They have used what they term little instruments from bicycle horns, bells, birthday party noisemakers, wind chimes, and a vast array of percussion instruments. They also include costumes and face paint in performance. All these characteristics combine to make the ensemble's performances a visual spectacle along with an auditory one.

Back in the mid-60s the members of Art Ensemble performed under various and names but they began to play together and record in 1967.

Then members were all multi-instrumentalists and played many saxophones, many different flutes and clarinets. Their sound included the flugelhorn, the cornets, shofar and conch shells, with banjo and bass guitar and of course the piano and synthesizer. The group traveled to Paris where they became known as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The group performed the soundtrack for the French movie Les Stances a Sophie and it has remained a cult classic ever since. In 1972 the ensemble returned to the United States with a quintet of Mitchell, Jarman, Bowie, Favors and Moye and remained together till 1993. There are two major releases from Atlantic records are Baptism and Fanfare for the Warriors. They gave each other freedom to pursue other musical interests and these conditions contributed to the longevity of the ensemble. They've released more than 20 studio recordings and several live albums between 1972 and 2004.

The makeup of the ensemble has since changed when Jarman retired from the group to focus on his practice of Zen. Bowie died of liver cancer and the group became a trio until 2003 when Jarman rejoined the ensemble. But in 2004 Favors died and the group was joined by a new trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Jaribu Shahid and his group recorded a live CD called Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City.

Ensemble members embrace performance art and they believe this allows the band to move beyond the strict limits of jazz and tap into a wide variety of musical styles and influences. Music is more interesting when it is not limited to Western, African, Asian, South American instruments or anyone's instruments for that matter.

Andy Votel

Andy Votel is a musician, DJ, record producer, graphic designer and co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissuelabel Finders Keepers Records. Votel began making hip-hop music in the late 1980s as the youngest member of the group Violators of the English Language (from which the VOTEL stage name is derived). In 2000 Votel signed to XL Records. He recorded two albums for the label, Styles of the Unexpected (2000) and All Ten Fingers (2002). These albums featured original Can singer Malcolm Mooney, Guy Garvey, Gramme, and Jane Weaver. Votel's music is often released under a pseudonym. His aliases include Applehead, Anworth Kirk, Tandy Love, Xian Orphic, Slant Azymuth, Neotantrik, and Tony Deval.

Having built a reputation through Violators of the English Language, Votel began mixing psychedelic music with jazz and hip-hop records at clubs like The Hacienda and Home And South from the early 1990s. He is an internationally renowned DJ and has performed at events such as Sonar, All Tomorrow's Parties, and the Green Man Festival. Votel founded the B-Music DJ Collective alongside ex-Hacienda DJ and journalist John Maccready. Other B-Music collaborators include David Holmes, Belle And Sebastian, Edan, Bob Stanley, and Gruff Rhys. Votel has presented shows for Radio 4 such as 2011's Free Wales Harmony, which documented the history of Welsh protest music. He appears regularly alongside Stuart Maconie on The Freakier Zone show on BBC 6 Music.