Saxophonist Joseph Jarman’s gentle voice usually lets out a few quiet giggles during a conversation. His speaking tone contrasts with his historic performances with the Art Ensemble of Chicago from the late 1960s until the early ’90s. Back then, he covered his face in striking painted African designs and raucously embraced jazz’s entire lineage — from its New Orleans roots to free-improvisation.
Then in 1993 Jarman left music altogether to devote himself to his calling as a Zen monk and martial artist. His retirement lasted three years.
“I didn’t expect to miss music so much,” Jarman says via telephone from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y. “That’s why it was such a surprise to me and such an enlightenment when I started back doing it.”
Jarman’s early jazz explorations and his initial studies in Buddhism took place simultaneously in Chicago. On the South Side, he and his colleagues were developing their own sound while they also helped build the influential cooperative, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Jarman also made trips with a friend who brought him to Gyoko Saito’s Buddhist discussion groups. Initially, Jarman “would just go up there and sit and listen.” That changed when his band moved to Europe.
“In 1969 the Art Ensemble went to Paris, and we had everything there,” Jarman says. “All the success we could imagine, all the materialistic things we could imagine. But that made me a little bit distressed, actually. So I wrote Rev. Saito a letter about my psychological condition, and he wrote me this beautiful, beautiful letter that was extremely encouraging and uplifting.”
During the 1970s Jarman studied the Japanese martial art aikido in Chicago under the late Fumio Toyoda. He currently holds a fifth (out of six) degree black belt. Jarman moved to New York in 1982 and established the Brooklyn Buddhist Association. While his international tours helped to inform his music and philosophy, Jarman’s ordination as a Zen monk in 1990 led to his decision to quit the band.
“I felt more and more responsible for my duties as far as Buddhism and aikido were concerned. I had a talk with the ensemble and everyone said, `OK, if that’s what you want to do, do it.’ So I retired from the Art Ensemble and devoted 100 per cent of my time to the Brooklyn Buddhist Association and its aikido dojo.”
Under Jarman’s leadership, the association expanded its aikido and meditation programs. But he felt he was neglecting something essential. When Jarman received an AACM composer’s commission in 1996 he realized that he could “associate the teachings of the Dharma with music.”
“I wrote the first composition, and I was invited to perform. And it was like, `Wow!’ I hadn’t realized that it had actually been the most vital aspect of my life. It was an extraordinary healing feeling, and I was able to obtain a balance that I had actually lost.”
Nowadays Jarman performs regularly, but without the rigorous touring schedule he once had with the Art Ensemble. He frequently collaborates with musicians who deserve wider attention, like reed player Robbie Hunsinger and bassist Tatsu Aoki. The members of this trio share a particular interest in blending Asian folk themes with contemporary chamber music.
“I find many, many extraordinary musicians who don’t have some opportunities, and I like their music, so I just work with them. I enjoy that much more than the intense musical industry that generally goes on.”
When Jarman made a recent visit to Chicago, another sort of teacher reinforced his spiritual lessons in humility.
“I went out to [the New Apartment Lounge] and [saxophonist] Von Freeman said, `Hey Joseph! I’m going to play a solo your style, and then you’re going to have to play a solo my style,'” Jarman says with a laugh. “And he very successfully played a solo my style with a lot of screeching and then he said, `OK, your turn!’ And I said, `No, I’m afraid I can’t do it.’ That was one experience I’ll never forget.”
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Joseph Jarman with Robbie Hunsinger and Tatsu Aoki
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Price: Free; 312-744-6630
