Joseph Jarman is a musician, composer, poet and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was born on September 14, 1937 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. In high school (DuSable High School in Chicago) he studied drums with Walter Dyett, switching to saxophone and clarinet when he joined the army after graduation.

After he was discharged from the army in 1958 Jarman attended Wilson Junior College , where bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and Anthony Braxton were also studying. Mitchell intrdoced him to pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, and Jarman, Mitchell, and Favors Maghostut joined Abrams' Experimental Band when that group was founded in 1961. The same group of musicians continued to play together in a variety of configurations, and went on to found the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in 1965.

In 1967 Jarman joined Mitchell, Favors Maghostut, and trumpeter Lester Bowie in the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble, which became known shortly thereafter as the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Jarman stayed with the Ensemble until 1993, when he left the group to focus on his spiritual practice. He didn't have anything to do with music until 1996, when he resumed playing and composing; when Bowie passed away in 1999 Jarman rejoined the Art Ensemble, and he continues to play with them through 2004.

Along with the saxophone and clarinet, Jarman also plays (and has recorded on) nearly every member of the woodwind family, as well as a wide variety of percussion instruments. Aside from his work with relatively tradional jazz lineups, he has composed for larger orchestras and created multimedia pieces for musicians and dancers.

Jarman is most widely known for his musical accomplishments, but he is also involved in the practice of Zen Buddhism and aikido. He is a Jodo Shinshu priest, and holds a rank of godan (fifth degree black belt) in Aikido.

External links

• Jazz Weekly interview
• Perfect Sound Forever interview
• Aikido teacher profile
• Art Ensemble of Chicago web site