The Black Artists Group (BAG) was a multidisciplinary arts collective that existed in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1968 to 1972.
[1][2] Members included saxophonists Julius Hemphill,[3] Oliver Lake,[3] J. D. Parran, Hamiet Bluiett, and Luther Thomas; trumpeters Baikida Carroll[3] and Floyd LeFlore; trombonist Joseph Bowie;[3] drummers Bensid Thigpen and Charles "Bobo" Shaw;[3] bassist Bobby Reed, Arzinia Richardson; stage directors Malinke Robert Elliott, Vincent Terrell, and Muthal Naidoo; actors LeRoi S. Shelton; poets Ajule (Bruce) Rutlin[3] and Shirley LeFlore; dancers Georgia Collins and Luisah Teish; and painters Emilio Cruz and Oliver Lee Jackson.
[5] Members Oliver Lake, Lester Bowie, and Floyd LeFlore studied music in the jazz program at Sumner High School.
[7] BAG inspired other groups and artistic collectives to form around the United States and influenced Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
[8] Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill and Hamiet Bluiett formed the African Continuum and organized the 1971 multimedia concert "Images: Sons/Ancestors" at Powell Symphony Hall, which was delayed by a bomb threat.