Arnold Young

Arnold Young - born: 09/23/1945 Paola Kansas

Part One - Music

   I am a drummer, composer, artist, writer, and educator living in Kansas City Missouri. I have lived in New York City, California, and other various locations but most of my life has been spent in the Kansas City Missouri area. I attended the University of Missouri at Kansas City Conservatory of Music. In October of 1964 I joined Taijasa Ensemble, an experimental piano trio. In the spring of 1965, we performed the first jazz concert in Kansas City to feature free improvisation.

   In 1969 I founded Advertisement for a Dream, the first long-term project in K.C. to feature free improvisation and other new approaches to jazz improvisation. We were presented as art at the Nelson Gallery twice. I played solo drum set for the opening of the Claes Oldenburg show at the Nelson in 1974.

  I relocated to San Francisco in 1980 where I played and studied with African musicians and worked extensively with avant-garde master alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons and a creative group called Club Foot Orchestra that featured a member of Captain Beefheart’s band.

  I returned to Kansas City in mid-1988. In the mid-nineties I joined a very creative group - the Gerald Spaits Quartet who I played with for many years. In 1999 I joined an experimental group called Malachy Papers which later morphed into Snuff Jazz. I played with them until 2006.

  In 2014 I formed Arnold Young and the Roughtet to explore new directions in composed and improvised music. The group has been through several incarnations in its ten-year history. We produced a CD that came out in March 2022 and was well received locally. A new recording called Young Spirit is almost done. Though I’m in my late seventies I continue to compose and perform with the Roughtet and many other groups.

Part Two - Art

   Art was my first love in life but by age 13 I became very frustrated and stopped making art almost completely. In the early seventies I had a lot of abuse heaped on me and my group from the Kansas City jazz community who weren’t ready for anything different. During that time, I became acquainted with faculty members and students from the Kansas City Art Institute, a world famous art school. These new friends said things like “We don’t know what kind of music that is, but we love it.” This praise was like manna from heaven. I became very good friends with these artists which led to me to start making art again in 1972. I have long been fascinated by abstract expressionism and I make abstract art, whether doing paintings or collages etc. I have had a few pieces in shows and once sold over a thousand dollars of paintings in one night. I have not pursued a career in art, but it is a big part of my life. In 1996 I started a new type of art. I called the pieces I made recycollages. They are all made of recycled packaging. I have only had one show with these pieces which was in early 2000. Unfortunately, over 150 pieces, the bulk of my new work, were stolen in November of 2022. Most of the art I made since 1996 is gone - about 97% of all my recycollages. I have about 20 pieces left and am trying to organize a show called “remnants”.

Part Three – Writing

  I started writing short stories on an old Underwood typewriter in the mid-1990s. By 2000 I was using a computer to write. I write stories under a pen name: Arthur Kind. I have never submitted any of my writing for publication although a review I wrote about a great local jazz drummer was published in our local jazz magazine. For the last three years I’ve written an autobiographical book under my own name. It is called Close Encounters of the Jazz Kind. It’s the story of my musical life and all the great musicians with whom I’ve played, jammed, or met. The great Kansas City Jazz writer and radio personality Chuck Haddix has a copy and has told me it’s good. I’m in the process of exploring self-publishing options.

Partial Discography:
Born to Be Tiled - Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater – Rounder – 1984
Kidnapped – Club Foot Orchestra – Ralph – 1987
Beets – various artists – Ralph 1987
Potatoes – various artists – Ralph 1988
Introducing Black Jack Pleasanton – Sonny Simmons - Hello World – 4 discs – recorded early 80s,
released late 90s
Three Sides – Gerald Spaits – self produced - ?
PM Time – Patrick Morrisey - ? – 1988
Bone and Horn – Malachy Papers – self produced – 2000
Necessity is a Mother! – Necessity Brass Band – mgroov - 2001
Universal Pulse – Mike Dillon, Earl Harvin & Arnold Young – Muteant Soundz – 2008?
Snuff Jazz w/ B Haas – Snuff Jazz & Brian Haas - mgroov – 2009?
Rough Jazz – Arnold Young & the Roughtet – mgroov – 2015
Flavor Mixing Systems – Arnold Young and the Roughtet – mgroov – 2016
Divertimento – Trio E – bandcamp – 2020
Fear Is the Mind Killer – arnold Young & the Roughtet – mgroov - 2022
GAV7D – Johnny Hamil – self produced – 2022
Young Spirit – Arnold Young and the Roughtet – mgroov - 2024