7/4 Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Upcoming release on Tzadik: - Braxton, Graves, Parker: Beyond Quantum [#7626] Anthony Braxton, Milford Graves and William Parker are quite literally three of the most important virtuoso instrumentalists in new music, each a vivid conceptualist as well an influential composer/performer. This intense improvisational outing features them at their best: excited, inspired and in complete communication. Recorded and mixed by musical alchemist Bill Laswell, sparks fly in this important and historic meeting of creative music masters. looks interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 (edited) This month I got Trio & Duet (1974 I think?) from eMusic and it is frankly superb. The second 'side' is my first experience of Dave Holland and it's a joy. Oh boy...you gonna dig the Mosaic Braxton Arista box! There's also some live recordings from that era of Braxton with Holland that are well worth checking out. Edited August 4, 2008 by 7/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartjewkes Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Can't wait for that bad boy! I don't own a Mosaic as I've never had enough cash to splash out £80 for 6 cds but in this case I will make an exception. This month I got Trio & Duet (1974 I think?) from eMusic and it is frankly superb. The second 'side' is my first experience of Dave Holland and it's a joy. Oh boy...you gonna dig the Mosaic Braxton Arista box! There's also some live recordings from that era of Braxton with Holland that are well worth checking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Can't wait for that bad boy! I don't own a Mosaic as I've never had enough cash to splash out £80 for 6 cds but in this case I will make an exception. Braxton Arista and Freedom set on Mosaic? Upcoming Mosaic sets, August - November 2008: Peterson, Braxton, Goodman, Akiyoshi/Tabackin sets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Anthony Braxton - 20 Standards (Quartet) 2003 Anthony Braxton - 23 Standards (Quartet) 2003 Anthony Braxton - 8 Standards (Wesleyan) 2001 I've been listening to these lately and checking out the guitar playing of Kevin O'Neil. Quite nimble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Anthony Braxton - 20 Standards (Quartet) 2003 Anthony Braxton - 23 Standards (Quartet) 2003 Anthony Braxton - 8 Standards (Wesleyan) 2001 I've been listening to these lately and checking out the guitar playing of Kevin O'Neil. Quite nimble. You're quite right about O'Neil. I have always enjoyed the 20 and 23 Standards sets. -- I haven't heard the 8 Standards (Wesleyan). But the two "standards" titles that I really love are Braxton's "Charlie Parker Project" (not universally admired, or so I've read) and "A Memory of Vienna" with Ran Blake, which I acquired earlier this year. I've never heard Braxton so lyrical as he is on the Vienna disc. The version of 'Round Midnight is gorgeous. And despite some criticisms of sloppiness on the Parker Project (criticisms which I'm not convinced are on the mark) I find the music riveting and perhaps more focused. Dealing with a single artist rather than a range of artists has something to do with that. And it may be more on the listening end than the execution end, I'll admit. But I love both of those, and put them right up there with the best of his output overall. (Dortmund, Montreux/Berlin, the Crispell-Hemingway-Dresser quartet, Iridium, to name a few of my faves). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 . And it may be more on the listening end than the execution end, I'll admit. But I love both of those, and put them right up there with the best of his output overall. (Dortmund, Montreux/Berlin, the Crispell-Hemingway-Dresser quartet, Iridium, to name a few of my faves). I'm still trying to comprehend that Iridium set. I've only really listened to the first half of it (about 5 CDs). I love the wide variety of instruments but it is hard to digest even one disc at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 (edited) . And it may be more on the listening end than the execution end, I'll admit. But I love both of those, and put them right up there with the best of his output overall. (Dortmund, Montreux/Berlin, the Crispell-Hemingway-Dresser quartet, Iridium, to name a few of my faves). I'm still trying to comprehend that Iridium set. I've only really listened to the first half of it (about 5 CDs). I love the wide variety of instruments but it is hard to digest even one disc at a time. It is ... and I know what you mean. One of the main things I take away from those live sets is a sense of pure joy emanating from the musicians. That's not always the case with Braxton's music for me. I get a very positive vibe from the Iridium box. I have more of an emotional response to it than is often the case with his music. Edited August 5, 2008 by papsrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 The Charlie Parker Project is one of Braxton's more interesting standards projects, yes, though it's a bit chaotic. -- On the other hand those 23 and 20 standards volumes just go on & on & on & on, and while O'Neil's great some of the playing is unbelievably careless (like, they just opened the fakebook & winged it--listen to the hash they make of some of the Brubeck tunes) & Braxton's really having trouble with the soprano & sopranino. I look forward to the Arista box--somehow my copies of several of the LPs & CDs have vanished, including the 2LP solo album & the live date from Montreaux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalupa Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Upcoming shows in Philly!! Friday, October 10 | 8pm Anthony Braxton Falling River Quartet with Anthony Braxton, alto/soprano/ sopranino saxophone + contrabass clarinet Erica Dicker, violin Sally Norris, piano Katherine Young, bassoon Settlement Music School 416 Queen Street $35 General Admission All ticket holders will receive free admission to the October 11 brass music concert Saturday, October 11 | 8pm Composition 103 (for Seven Trumpets) with Taylor Ho Bynum, Tim Byrnes, Forbes Graham, Sam Hoyt, John McDonough, Nicole Rampersaud, Nate Wooley, trumpet Composition 169 (for Brass Quintet) with Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet Nate Wooley, trumpet Mark Taylor, French horn Reut Regev, trombone Jay Rozen, tuba Anthony Braxton, conductor St. Mark's Church 1525 Locust Street $10 General Admission More info at: http://arsnovaworkshop.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Anthony Braxton Fans are So Full of Shit Really now... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Anthony Braxton Fans are So Full of Shit Really now... . Interesting. I expected the posting to be much more caustic, given the headline. I like the idea that Braxton's music can be much more playful and "fun" than listeners sometimes give him credit for. This is what I found in "Iridium." Not so much, however, in something like "For Alto." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Anthony Braxton Fans are So Full of Shit Really now... Interesting. I expected the posting to be much more caustic, given the headline. I like the idea that Braxton's music can be much more playful and "fun" than listeners sometimes give him credit for. This is what I found in "Iridium." Not so much, however, in something like "For Alto." I find fun all through his small grp music - all those marches! - but not much in his "classical" music. It's just a dumb WMFU sort of title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werf Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 October will resuscitate my Braxton obsession. I'm geeking for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blajay Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 whew! just finished reading this thread. Can't wait for the Braxton Arista Mosaic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 (edited) I am really enjoying the new budget 4-disc set GTM (2006) on Important Records. The Iridium might have been a grander concept, but I much prefer the GTM music in this kind of standard quartet format with Braxton as the only reed player. This is like a more fully realized verion of the excellent Delmark album (Four Compositions (GTM) 2000). The liner notes by Braxton are classic material. There are times when I think that he really is just jiving in the sense of making the text too dense and complex for anybody to understand. I particularly like his initial explanation and definition of GTM: "The idea for GTM came about as a way to establish an "orbit" quandrant area universe schema that "gravitationally" affects neighboring "event-stream" sonic events in a multi-layer three dimensional imaginary universe of activities (and target materials)..." Edited August 7, 2008 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 I am really enjoying the new budget 4-disc set GTM (2006) on Important Records. The Iridium might have been a grander concept, but I much prefer the GTM music in this kind of standard quartet format with Braxton as the only reed player. This is like a more fully realized verion of the excellent Delmark album (Four Compositions (GTM) 2000). The liner notes by Braxton are classic material. There are times when I think that he really is just jiving in the sense of making the text too dense and complex for anybody to understand. I particularly like his initial explanation and definition of GTM: "The idea for GTM came about as a way to establish an "orbit" quandrant area universe schema that "gravitationally" affects neighboring "event-stream" sonic events in a multi-layer three dimensional imaginary universe of activities (and target materials)..." That's really a terrific set, and the first bunch of CDs, when I heard it a month or two back, that had involved me so much in a while. I also got a copy of Comp. 247 recently--a bagpipe/2 reeds piece--and managed to obtain a copy of the score from James Fei. It is, I believe, from the second stage of ghost trance music, still emphasizing looped eighth note patterns but with some interesting, sometimes jarring interpolations. The score includes a number of Braxton's graphic/algebraic figures, the meaning(s) of which are sometimes intuitive and at other moments pretty mystifying. It's above all really beautiful to look at. The whip/accelerated GTM phase, from which the box is derived, is a bitch to sight read. Obtuse tuplet streams at somewhat unmanageable tempi and with minimal preparation... I admire and commend any musician who can make this stuff with any sort of proficiency. Braxton--you mad, crazy, mad genius you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Anyone hip to this release? Braxton / Graves / Parker -- "Beyond Quantum" Trio sounds intriguing. Drooling a little, but if anyone's heard it ... comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Listened to sound samples and it appears to be solid. That video clip on the above WFMU blog is ridiculous. If you think Braxton's "joking," in both positive and negative fashion, this might be all you'd need in your pocket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Anyone hip to this release? Braxton / Graves / Parker -- "Beyond Quantum" Trio sounds intriguing. Drooling a little, but if anyone's heard it ... comments? Got it @ Borders today. Haven't listened yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Anyone hip to this release? Braxton / Graves / Parker -- "Beyond Quantum" Trio sounds intriguing. Drooling a little, but if anyone's heard it ... comments? Got it @ Borders today. Haven't listened yet. Man. Your Boarders is a lot better stocked than mine! ... I went ahead and ordered from squidco. Looking forward to it. Be interested to hear your thoughts if you get a chance to spin it over the next couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Anyone hip to this release? Braxton / Graves / Parker -- "Beyond Quantum" Trio sounds intriguing. Drooling a little, but if anyone's heard it ... comments? Got it @ Borders today. Haven't listened yet. Man. Your Boarders is a lot better stocked than mine! ... I went ahead and ordered from squidco. Looking forward to it. Be interested to hear your thoughts if you get a chance to spin it over the next couple of days. I was surprised. We have three Borders here and two of them actually had this on release day! Listening to the first tune now; seems like an epic sopranino (how do you pronounce that, anyway?) solo so far, with lots of pushing by the drums. It just sounds great, too. I've heard a lot of detail in the percussion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted August 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 seems like an epic sopranino (how do you pronounce that, anyway?) s sop-ra-nin-o. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Accent on "nin". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 As in "neen". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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