The Black Artists Group was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 from 1968 to 1972.

Members included saxophonists Julius Hemphill

Julius Hemphill

Julius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone; less often soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.-Biography:...

, Oliver Lake

Oliver Lake

Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly on alto saxophone but also performs on soprano saxophone and flute....

, J. D. Parran

J. D. Parran

J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvised music. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, flute, piccolo,...

, Hamiet Bluiett

Hamiet Bluiett

Hamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...

, and Luther Thomas

Luther Thomas

thumb|right|upright=2|Dizzazz in June 1981. From left to right : Luther Thomas , Danny Petroni , Donald Nicks , Marvin Neal , Warren Benbow , John K. Mulkerin and Billy "Spaceman" Paterson...

; trumpeters Baikida Carroll

Baikida Carroll

Baikida Carroll is an American jazz trumpeter.Carroll studied at Southern Illinois University and at the Armed Forces School of Music early in his career. Following this he became a member of the Black Artists Group in St. Louis, where he directed their free jazz ensemble...

 and Floyd LeFlore; trombonist Joseph Bowie

Joseph Bowie

Joseph Bowie is an American bandleader, trombonist, and founder of the seminal jazz fusion band, Defunkt. The group has been blending jazz with funk and punk music for more than three consecutive decades....

; drummers Bensid Thigpen and Charles "Bobo" Shaw; bassist Arzinia Richardson; stage directors Malinke Robert Elliott, Vincent Terrell, and Muthal Naidoo; poets Ajule (Bruce) Rutlin and Shirley LeFlore

Shirley LeFlore

Shirley LeFlore is one of St. Louis' most influential performance art poets. Before she became a board member for Word In Motion, she split her time between performances in New York City and teaching creative writing at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. One of the premiere women's voices in St...

; dancers Georgia Collins and Luisah Teish

Luisah Teish

Luisah Teish is an author, storyteller, and priestess of the Ifá/Orisha faith from New Orleans, Louisiana.She is the founder and president of Ile Orunmila Oshun, and holds a chieftancy title in the Fatunmise lineage as head Oshun Priest in the United States...

; and painters Emilio Cruz and Oliver L. Jackson (NOTE: while Jackson was not officially a member, he was deeply involved with BAG and is usually listed as a member).

External links

• BAG page from Washington University in St. Louis
  Washington University in St. Louis
  Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
  
  site
• A 2004 article on BAG's music wing
• Poets of Action: The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972