Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an African-American composer and jazz saxophonist.

Mitchell studied with Muhal Richard Abrams and played in his Experimental Band, thus becoming one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). The first AACM album to be released was Sound by Mitchell's sextet. Sound, in contrast to the predominate fast paced screaming sessions of the jazz avant-garde, was an exploration of silence and made great use of both traditionally non-jazz instruments but also so-called "little instruments:" hand percussion, bicycle horns and home-made instruments.

He is the founder of the Creative Arts Collective, an organization similar in intent to the AACM. Mitchell is a cofounder of The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

External links

• All About Jazz: Roscoe Mitchell: In Search of the Super Musician Posted: 2004-01-08
• Roscoe Mitchell interview by Jason Gross (May 1998)
• Lovely Music Artist: Roscoe Mitchell
• AACM: Roscoe Mitchell