Biography
11 October 1941, Frederick, Maryland, USA, d. 9 November 1999, New York, USA. After taking up the trumpet as a child Bowie played in several R&B bands in and around St. Louis, Missouri. He led his own R&B bands and married singer Fontella Bass, accompanying her as musical director. Despite this and earlier connections with the R&B scene, Bowie’s chief musical interests lay elsewhere. Based in Chicago from the mid-60s, he was actively involved with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and was co-founder of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. From its inception in 1969 into the 80s, he remained closely linked with the AEC, touring and recording extensively, especially in France. Always eager to experiment with fusions of seemingly differing aspects of the jazz tradition, he constantly brought traditional blues roots into his work with such forward-thinking musicians as Archie Shepp, Roscoe Mitchell and David Murray. Bowie was...
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