Jarman was not so accomplished a saxophonist as his reed-playing partner in
the Art Ensemble of Chicago,
Roscoe Mitchell. But
Jarman's sense of color was fine, his blunt-edged improvisations projected an emotionally immediacy of their own, and his interest in poetry and theatre informed the band's live performances. While attending high school in Chicago in the early '50s,
Jarman took up the drums under the tutelage of the famous music teacher Walter Dyett. He switched to saxophone and clarinet while in the army. Upon his discharge in 1958, he returned to Chicago. There, he joined pianist
Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band (formed in 1961), alongside his future
Art Ensemble compatriots
Malachi Favors and
Mitchell.
Jarman played in a hard bop sextet with
Mitchell, and in 1965, he became one of the first members of
the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Starting around 1967,
Jarman was one of the first saxophonists to perform solo, a tactic also embraced by other members of
the AACM, notably
Anthony Braxton.
Jarman led his own group from 1966-1968, which included bassist
Charles Clark, drummer
Thurman Barker, and pianist
Christopher Gaddy, among others. Separate editions of that band recorded a pair of albums for Delmark:
Song for... (1966) and
As if it were the Seasons (1968). In 1967,
Lester Bowie recorded
Numbers 1 & 2 for Nessa; on "2," the four musicians who would become
the Art Ensemble (
Bowie,
Mitchell,
Favors, and
Jarman) recorded together for the first time. In 1969, that band would become
Jarman's primary creative outlet. By then, the untimely deaths of
Gaddy and
Clark had compelled
Jarman to disband his own group.
Jarman would continue with
the Art Ensemble until 1993. In that time, he also recorded under his own name, for the Black Saint, AECO, and India Navigation labels. Upon leaving
the Art Ensemble,
Jarman virtually retired from music, in order to devote himself more completely to spiritual matters. As the '90s progressed, however, he did continue to perform and record, often as a guest with such musicians as
Marilyn Crispell, guitarist/composer
Scott Fields, bassist
Reggie Workman, and drummer
Lou Grassi.
–
Chris Kelsey, Rovi