Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
Brilliant jazz guitar innovator John Abercrombie is known among jazz musicians as a composer of compelling, well-crafted tunes. Now for the first time, he has selected 34 of his original compositions to be available in book form. Chosen from 35-plus years of recordings, great tunes such as “Ralph’s Piano Waltz,” “Just In Tune,” “Convolution,” “Sound Track,” and “Wishing Bell,” are laid out as individual lead sheets. The book includes Abercrombie’s personal, sometimes hilarious, recollections about each tune, plus some of his unique guitar voicings with annotations, analysis of his compositional techniques, and a complete discography.