A fry cook on Venus

In honor of the American day off of Labor Day, a bit of far-out ambience gracing one of the more famous days off in the cinematic canon. In John Hughes' 1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the title character memorably hijacks a parade float to lip-synch "Danke Schoen" and "Twist and Shout." You remember:


But what's that banner, over on the left, behind Berwyn's own Vlasta the Polka Queen?


Why, that's a banner marking the 20th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians! Ferris Bueller, avant-garde jazz fan.

Here's some of the AACM's most well-known progeny, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, performing in Finland in 1987. The bassist is Malachi Favors, who I'm reasonably certain (but not at all positive) is the one on the 20th-anniversary banner.