Best known as the bassist for the acclaimed avant-garde ensemble
the Art Ensemble of Chicago,
Malachi Favors kept a fairly low profile, though he was an essential element of the group's artistic success. He seldom soloed, though he did occasionally write for the band.
Favors contributed vocal effects and plays, in addition to bass, a range of auxiliary instruments such as zither, banjo, and harmonica. It was
Favors who first suggested the band wear African face paint and clothing (a practice taken up by
Favors, saxophonist
Joseph Jarman, and drummer
Don Moye). Most importantly,
Favors was a solid team player -- hard-swinging and possessing a large, rubbery bass sound in addition to a well-developed sense of his place in the ensemble.
Born and raised in Chicago,
Favors began playing the double bass at the age of 15. By the time
Favors became a member of saxophonist
Roscoe Mitchell's band (who evolved into
the Art Ensemble in the mid-'60s), he had already established himself on the Chicago jazz scene. A protégé of bassists
Wilbur Ware and
Paul Chambers,
Favors recorded with pianist
Andrew Hill in 1957. He also played with trumpeters
Dizzy Gillespie and
Freddie Hubbard. With
Mitchell,
Favors convened a rehearsal band who essayed the music of
Albert Ayler,
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers,
Ornette Coleman, and
Sonny Rollins. He was a member of
Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band in 1961 and began playing regularly with
Mitchell in 1966. From that point on
The Art Ensemble was his primary outlet, although he played with many other prominent free jazz musicians, including
Sunny Murray,
Archie Shepp, and
Dewey Redman. His recording career was mostly as a sideman, though he did record an album of unaccompanied bass for
the Art Ensemble's AECO label in 1977 (Natural and the Spiritual). His 1975 duo set with
Abrams (
Sightsong) was one of the Black Saint label's earliest releases.
Favors, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, passed away early in 2004.
–
Chris Kelsey, Rovi