Muhal Richard Abrams, who died aged 87 on 29th October 2017, was an American jazz pianist known for an epic and unpredictable style that blended melody, harmony and classical influences. He recorded many albums from the 1960s and collaborated with top jazz stars. He was an influential composer and teacher who formed the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago in 1965. Critic Howard Reich noted in his obituary in the 'Chicago Tribune' that the organisation "dramatically redefined how individuals and ensembles could compose and improvise their works, and how they could take control of their own performances and recordings".
Born in Chicago, Abrams taught himself to play the piano inspired by great jazz pianists such as Art Tatum and Thelonius Monk and composers and arrangers such as Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. As a sideman, he played an assortment of musical styles in local clubs and performed with artists including Dexter Gordon and Woody Shaw. After a stint with Eddie Harris playing be-bop in the band Modern Jazz Two + Three, in 1962 he formed a free-jazz unit called the Experimental Band. That project evolved into the AACM and Abrams's debut album 'Levels and Degrees of Light', which featured Anthony Braxton and Maurice McIntyre on saxophone, Gordon Emmanuel on vibraphone, Leroy Jenkins on violin, Leonard Jones and Charles Clark on bass, and Penelope Taylor on vocals.
'Young at Heart/Wise in Time' followed in 1969 and he continued to release several albums every decade until his death. 'Made in Chicago: Live at the Chicago Jazz Festival' with Jack DeJohnette, Larry Gray, Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill, went to number 14 on Billboard's Jazz Albums Chart in 2015. He played on albums by other jazz performers and became a highly regarded teacher. His compositions included orchestral, choral and big band works and 'String Quartet No. 2', which the Kronos Quartet played in a recital in Carnegie Hall. Compilation albums include the eight-disc 'Muhal Richard Abrams: The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note ' (2012) and the two-disc 'Muhal Richard Abrams: The Complete Remastered Recordings, Vol. 2' (2016).
