Anthony Braxton

[Mandryka]

Recommend me some of his recordings please.

What’s he about? Graphic scores à la Cornelius Cardew? Structures for improvisation à la Richard Barrett? Or what?

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Mandryka
Recommend me some of his recordings please.

OK, well, my favorite albums are these:

https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/12-duets-dcwm-2012
https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/trio-new-haven-2013

Post by Mandryka
What's he about?

Heh. I don't even know where to start.... What is Braxton about?
Everything!

Maybe read a little about Braxtonland at Berlin Jazzfest 2019....
e.g. https://www.freejazzblog.org/2019/11/jazzfest-berlin-2019.html

(Braxton believes that all of his hundreds of compositions are
suitable for performance at the same time, for instance.)

Let's see... Braxton released the first album of solo saxophone
music. The Anthony Braxton Quartet (1980s version) basically defined
dodecaphonic jazz improvisation. His "sight reading test" for
musicians who want(ed) to join his bands is legendary....

Besides this Braxtonland multimedia project, what he'd been spending
most time on recently (per my understanding) is operas. E.g.
_Trillium J_ is on Vimeo.

[margolbe]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Mandryka
Recommend me some of his recordings please.

https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/12-duets-dcwm-2012
https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/trio-new-haven-2013

Post by Mandryka
What's he about?

Heh. I don't even know where to start.... What is Braxton about?
Everything!
Maybe read a little about Braxtonland at Berlin Jazzfest 2019....
e.g. https://www.freejazzblog.org/2019/11/jazzfest-berlin-2019.html
(Braxton believes that all of his hundreds of compositions are
suitable for performance at the same time, for instance.)
Let's see... Braxton released the first album of solo saxophone
music. The Anthony Braxton Quartet (1980s version) basically defined
dodecaphonic jazz improvisation. His "sight reading test" for
musicians who want(ed) to join his bands is legendary....
Besides this Braxtonland multimedia project, what he'd been spending
most time on recently (per my understanding) is operas. E.g.
_Trillium J_ is on Vimeo.

Check out his first album on Arista Records (New York, Fall 1974. It is one of his most accessible -- a combination of post-modern bop and free-form.

[Mandryka]

What is this ?

https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/concept-of-freedom-hatology-614

Whatever it is I like it. But I’m not sure how Braxton is involved.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Mandryka
What is this ?
https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/concept-of-freedom-hatology-614
Whatever it is I like it. But I'm not sure how Braxton is involved.

Compositions are by Braxton & Ellington.

See
https://www.discogs.com/Anthony-Braxton-Duke-Ellington-Concept-Of-Freedom/release/2524345

[Néstor Castiglione]

Post by Mandryka
Recommend me some of his recordings please.
What’s he about? Graphic scores à la Cornelius Cardew? Structures for improvisation à la Richard Barrett? Or what?

A good place to start might be his sets of Standards albums. Like their names imply, it's his take on various jazz standards from across the history of the genre. Their mostly fairly straight for Braxton, but he gives them just enough of a modernist tang to draw the listener's attention. Fantastic stuff. That said, I find Braxton on the whole to be uneven. Some of his work is truly great; other times it sounds like he's phoning it in. Personally, I'm more of an Albert Ayler man myself.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Two new releases from Braxton, this month....

Exciting to me in terms of new music, the most exciting thing he's
released since 2014 in fact, and this is all "straight" (no electronics
etc.):

https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017

(Absurdly a 10.9gig FLAC download. Also on blue-ray.)

And a new standards album, (correspondingly?) less complicated than
ever:

https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/quartet-standards-2020

[Mandryka]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
Two new releases from Braxton, this month....
Exciting to me in terms of new music, the most exciting thing he's
released since 2014 in fact, and this is all "straight" (no electronics
https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017
(Absurdly a 10.9gig FLAC download. Also on blue-ray.)
And a new standards album, (correspondingly?) less complicated than
https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/quartet-standards-2020

Listening to the 12 Comp now - fabulous!

[Mandryka]

Post by Mandryka

Post by Todd Michel McComb
Two new releases from Braxton, this month....
Exciting to me in terms of new music, the most exciting thing he's
released since 2014 in fact, and this is all "straight" (no electronics
https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017
(Absurdly a 10.9gig FLAC download. Also on blue-ray.)
And a new standards album, (correspondingly?) less complicated than
https://newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com/album/quartet-standards-2020

Listening to the 12 Comp now - fabulous!

What is the 2014 release?

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Mandryka
What is the 2014 release?

_12 Duets (DCWM) 2012_

(& also _Trio (New Haven) 2013_ was released in 2014, but that might
be called more old-fashioned in some ways. Still a highlight.)

[Mandryka]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Mandryka
What is the 2014 release?

_12 Duets (DCWM) 2012_
(& also _Trio (New Haven) 2013_ was released in 2014, but that might
be called more old-fashioned in some ways. Still a highlight.)

Listening to the first of the 12 duets, it sounds like a three part motet to me, with tenor, motetus and triplum! It would be nice to see the score, try and make some sense of it.

Anyway, this is obviously, evidently, very fine music making.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Mandryka
It would be nice to see the score, try and make some sense of it.

There's an index of scores on tricentricfoundation.org, although
not all currently appear to be available. (They seem to be most
of the way through a transition on this? Perhaps availability will
improve.)

It's also possible to listen to the same compositions in other
performances. _12 Duets_ overlaps e.g. with _Trio New Haven_ (or
_GTM (Syntax) 2017_ if you really want to go nuts) in this regard.

Note further that the "cover" of the ZIM set is (presumably, I
didn't verify) the set of 12 *titles* of the 12 compositions....
If you look at that booklet, though, there is also (substantial,
"too much") traditional notation.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017
(Absurdly a 10.9gig FLAC download. Also on blue-ray.)

Oh, and besides noting that I'm apparently incapable of leaving the
"e" off blu-ray, no matter how many times I remind myself, I should
probably add another note on "commerce," as that's ostensibly the
topic of this group:

I got the download, then decided that I wanted a physical copy too,
and (surprisingly?) these are everywhere... Best Buy, Wal-Mart,
etc. Including at deep discount. And here's the point: Mine came
with a free download code (presumably since digitizing blu-ray isn't
straightforward).

[Steve Emerson]

Post by Todd Michel McComb

Post by Todd Michel McComb
https://firehouse12records.com/album/12-comp-zim-2017
(Absurdly a 10.9gig FLAC download. Also on blue-ray.)

Oh, and besides noting that I'm apparently incapable of leaving the
"e" off blu-ray, no matter how many times I remind myself, I should
probably add another note on "commerce," as that's ostensibly the
I got the download, then decided that I wanted a physical copy too,
and (surprisingly?) these are everywhere... Best Buy, Wal-Mart,
etc. Including at deep discount. And here's the point: Mine came
with a free download code (presumably since digitizing blu-ray isn't
straightforward).

Just a general Braxton item and a-propos another current matter. Ursula Oppens and Rzewski (and a few others) in Braxton's Composition 95 "For Two Pianos" (and some other instruments).

SE.