10. Douglas Ewart
Douglas Ewart is one of those unusual artists who has managed to be on the front lines of the avant-garde almost from the start. Growing up in Kingston, he recalls going to hear Count Ossie’s groundations, which inspired him to make drums of his own—a practice he continues today. After moving to Chicago in 1963, he became involved in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, at that time a nascent group organized to promote experimental black music. Ewart studied composition and performance there with Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell, and began performing with musicians like Henry Threadgill, George Lewis, and Anthony Braxton. He eventually served as the president of the AACM, and still remains an important leader within the group.
Ewart’s work as an artist extends to the instruments he plays, many of which he makes himself and have sculptural as well as musical meaning. Though his recordings are not widely available (mostly because, in his words, he wants “total control over all aspects of the product“), he teaches and performs his compositions around the world—here he is with Amiri Baraka: