Jazz musicians can be loathe to build collective brands, since their goals are often to be as musically promiscuous and open-minded as possible. But by putting heads together and pooling resources, these organizations built identities which stood for quality, and gave individual members some leverage (and economic clout) in marketing their work. Sure, there was never a single AACM ensemble or BAG band featuring all members. I see the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1960s Chicago, or the similar Black Artists Group of St. That led to individual opportunities for all nine members (and many affiliates) as time went on, as Joel Rose ably reported on earlier this year for NPR.
Here's a group of artists who banded together under a common brand - namely, Wu-Tang, and all its attendant mythology - in order to increase their collective profile. It's actually worth musing on: Is there a jazz parallel to the Wu-Tang Clan? I'm referring to one specific historical narrative of the group: its name.
