Something Else!

I recently spent way too much money on myself, and purchased the Complete Arista Recordings of Anthony Braxton, an 8-CD (no really!) box set of recordings the composer recorded in the latter half of the 70s. It's amazing to think that this stuff came out on a major label at any time, but particularly in the late 70s, when the audience for jazz had all but dried up. One is used to the Ken Burns version of the story, where jazz went off the rails in the late 60s, and wasn't seen again until Wynton started recording on Columbia. But the reality is that much great jazz was recorded in the 70s, and this is a prime example.

After a short retirement from music, when he made a living playing chess, Braxton came back to music with the quartet Circle, which featured Miles Davis alums Dave Holland and Chick Corea, along with drummer Barry Altschul. Circle split up, in part because of Corea's involvement in Scientology, which Braxton describes in typically wry fashion:

I found Scientology very interesting, especially some of the techniques the developed for having people brainwash themselves, but this was not what I wanted to be a part of.

Corea broke the group up in Los Angeles, and Braxton was stranded there, looking for a gig or a way out. He got both when Michael Cuscuna approached him about working with Arista.

Braxton came to these sessions knowing that this was his opportunity both to speak to a larger audience and to fund his most ambitious experiments. The result was the greatest output of his career, a collection of idiosyncratic music that touched on the entire of jazz history, and was a harbinger of things to come, music that's simultaneously heady and swinging.

Of course some would say that what Braxton is doing in these recordings is not jazz, and that's a discussion that I believe will go exactly nowhere (except to say that there are covers of Scott Joplin, John Coltrane, Lionel Hampton, Eric Dolphy and Benny Golson on these recordings), so I'll move on. As for the music, this is some of the most astonishing work being done by any composer of the period. The recordings range from works for solo saxophone to a three-LP (or two-CD) composition for 4 orchestras of 39 musicians each.

A lot of credit can be given to his collaborators. Many of his colleagues in the AACM are represented, including pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, violinist Leroy Jenkins, trombone player George Lewis, fellow woodwind junkie Henry Threadgill, and many others. The music ranges from manic avant-bop workouts to 12-tone ballads to music that could as easily be found on recordings by Stockhausen or Xenakis.

It's a lot to chew on, and there is no doubt that the music he makes is complex and unusual. Even the titles of his works are difficult to explain. For example, the full title of Opus 82 looks like this:



There are explanations for both the numbering and the graphic representations of his composition titles (the curious can turn to his discography here, the obsessed can turn to his philosophical and musical writings, the massive Tri-Axium Writings and Composition Notes).

For someone who is often accused of being cold and abstract, these recordings stand out for their passion and emotionality. Sadly, the most accessible work of Anthony Braxton's career can only be found on an expensive limited-edition box set. It's a shame that neophytes will have a hard time hearing the pinnacle of this recording session, a large ensemble session recorded under the title Creative Orchestra Music. These recordings are a perfect blend of esoteric avant-garde music and straight ahead jazz.

Finally, here's a rendering of Composition no 58, done by a student and longtime collaborator of Braxton's, Taylor Ho Bynum.




Composition No. 58 - Taylor Ho Bynum Chicago Big Band

And here's Braxton playing clarinet with his great quartet featuring pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Gerry Hemingway.




Anthony Braxton Quartet 1983