Anthony Braxton recs.

[HLJ]

Just copped Albert Alyer's Spirtual Unity and thinking about digging a little Braxton.So hip a Brother with a Braxton rec.Only going to score one so no lists just your fav.Peace and all that.

[Vince Kargatis]

Top 5 Braxton thread

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by HLJ

Just copped Albert Alyer's Spirtual Unity and thinking about digging a little Braxton.So hip a Brother with a Braxton rec.Only going to score one so no lists just your fav.Peace and all that.

Starting listening to Braxton is like opening a bag of potato chips - there's a lot of them there, and it is pretty much impossible to stop at just one. That said, I can't even give a recommendation because I have no idea what is or isn't still in print, but I'm pretty sure the best of the pre-GTM music is currently OOP (i.e., Dortmund, Willisau, New York Fall 1975, Live, Creative Orchestra Koln...).

[Jason Bivins]

HL, I was just looking around at jazzloft dot com and they've got a bunch of good Braxton there. If you want to get a dose of Brax doing tunes you know (which could be a good starting point), you could pick up the 2-disc Charlie Parker Project or Six Monk's Compositions (1987). They also have a great 1983 date Four Compositions (Quartet) 1983, with a killer quartet, and Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984. If I had to pick one for you, I might suggest the 1983. Enjoy, my friend.

[Sergio Zamora]

HL, for great albums with Braxton but not under his name, you might consider checking out the albums by Circle (with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul) or Dave Holland's "Conference of the Birds (with Holland, Barry Altschul, and Sam Rivers).

[stonemonkts]

I would start with the Six Monk Compositions (1987) CD.

I'm surprised you're interested in Braxton, HLJ. I can see you liking Ayler, because beneath all that wailing is a very gospel and blues-based musician, but not so much with Braxton.

I'm saying this based on other music you like, from your posts.

[rene]

Originally Posted by Jason Bivins

you could pick up the 2-disc Charlie Parker Project... Enjoy, my friend.

HLJ, i second the Charlie Parker Project! if you're only going to buy one title of his, then this album is all you'll need.

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by rene

HLJ, i second the Charlie Parker Project! if you're only going to buy one title of his, then this album is all you'll need.

I dig the album, it's lots of fun, but as a one-and-only choice for Braxton, it strikes me as a very odd one.

[Pete C]

Personally, I'd avoid his take on standards as well as any of his Ghost Trance music. Based on HL's tastes, I'd be inclined toward Dortmund, but it's OOP. Does anybody know News from the 70's? That has the quartets with Wheeler and George Lewis, and Altschul and Holland in both, plus a taste of his solo work. I haven't heard it myself.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Jason Bivins

If you want to get a dose of Brax doing tunes you know (which could be a good starting point)

I disagree that's a good starting point.

[Paul B]

I'm with Pete. Though I like Six Monk Compositions, I'd say with Braxton it's always better to hear him playing his own music; his playing of standards always seems a mixed bag to me. There are many ways to play Monk--just look at Lacy's work there--but Braxton doesn't really seem to have found a coherent way with these or other standards. I'd start with anything he recorded with the classic quartet of Crispell/Hemingway/Dresser.

[Clay Fink]

There's an available recording on Victo of the Crispell/Dresser/Hemingway 4tet. See here for a discussion of that band's recording on music & arts: http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/row/001712.html

I think the quartet with Kenny Wheeler or George Lewis, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul is one of the greatest bands to ever play this music. Unfortunately I don't think anything is in print by that group. Some later quartet stuff on Black Saint is good too. The one they made with Dresser, Crispell and John Lindberg , just prior to Dresser replacing him, is one of my favorites. The one from '83 with George Lewis, Lindberg and Hemingway is good too.

The duet with Max Roach on hatology might be a good one to start with, especially if you are familiar with Roach. It will give you a familiar context to here Braxton playing Braxton. The Monk album didn't do much for me. The Charlie Parker Project kind of falls flat for me too.

If you REALLY want to jump in, though, get "Black Vomit", the collaboration he did with the noise band Wolf Eyes a couple of years ago at Victoriaville. Reportedly, this is the REAL Braxton.

[Vince Kargatis]

Leo still has the 1985 England recordings of the C/D/H quartet in print.

[Cem]

Sergio's suggestions would be the best entry points, imo.

[Nate Dorward]

Good, in-print, one-CD entry-point: Trio & Duet on Sackville. Side A of the original LP is a long Braxton piece, side B is three standards.

If you can find it The Montreaux/Berlin Concerts is another excellent place to start. It's a double-LP on Arista, pretty easy to find (I've frequently encountered it in record shops). It was reissued, minus one track, as Live on RCA Victor on CD, but in my experience the CD is harder to find nowadays than the LP.

[John L]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Personally, I'd avoid his take on standards as well as any of his Ghost Trance music. Based on HL's tastes, I'd be inclined toward Dortmund, but it's OOP. Does anybody know News from the 70's? That has the quartets with Wheeler and George Lewis, and Altschul and Holland in both, plus a taste of his solo work. I haven't heard it myself.

Pete: If you don't have "News from the 70s," I would recommend that you snag it. It full to the brim of top notch Braxton from the 70s in various different contexts.

[Walt Davis]

Isn't the Parker project the one with Braxton on piano? What an odd place to start.

I agree with any of the Crispell/Hemingway/Dresser although if you can find some of those other OP recs, the ones I've heard are quite nice. And Conference of the Birds is just a great album -- don't know that it will help you get into Braxton but it should be in any serious (historical) jazz collection.

On the other hand, maybe I'm crazy but if you want a path from Ayler to Braxton, I'd recommend going through Henry Threadgill on the way -- any of the sextett or Air recordings should do.

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by Walt Davis

Isn't the Parker project the one with Braxton on piano?

No. Mengelberg's on piano there.

[HLJ]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

I would start with the Six Monk Compositions (1987) CD.

I'm surprised you're interested in Braxton, HLJ. I can see you liking Ayler, because beneath all that wailing is a very gospel and blues-based musician, but not so much with Braxton.

I'm saying this based on other music you like, from your posts.

Yeah Monks just trying to dig somthing a little different.I got my first Ornette Coleman disc "Sound Grammer" and that shit was OFF THE CHAIN! .I was digging this flim "Ghost Dog" with Forest Whitker a while back.He played a Hitman and on the way to do a cat he put in a disc and this wild sax started wailing and I said DANM THATS COOL!.When the credits rolled it Mention Albert Ayler but the print was so small I couldn't make out the track.So I post for Ayler recs and tomorrow picking up "Spritual Unity".I thought while on this AG roll how bout some Braxton just seemed a natural progression.Maybe next a little Cecil Taylor Peace and all that

[Jesse]

HLJ, if I recall correctly, the sax/drum duo in that scene is Jimmy Lyons/Andrew Cyrille.

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by Nate Dorward

Good, in-print, one-CD entry-point: Trio & Duet on Sackville. Side A of the original LP is a long Braxton piece, side B is three standards.

If you can find it The Montreaux/Berlin Concerts is another excellent place to start. It's a double-LP on Arista, pretty easy to find (I've frequently encountered it in record shops). It was reissued, minus one track, as Live on RCA Victor on CD, but in my experience the CD is harder to find nowadays than the LP.

I completely and utterly agree with both these recs. The Sackville album is a good ying yang album, and the B side duets with Dave Holland are inspired standards covers.

And the live Arista album burns . . . . . . . .

These are where I'd start someone.

[Jon Abbey]

Originally Posted by Jesse

HLJ, if I recall correctly, the sax/drum duo in that scene is Jimmy Lyons/Andrew Cyrille.

yeah, it's one of their Black Saint records. I think it works better in the film than it does on its own, it's a nice change-up in the film to all of that RZA.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by Jesse

HLJ, if I recall correctly, the sax/drum duo in that scene is Jimmy Lyons/Andrew Cyrille.

Yeah, it's from "Nuba", which is actually a trio with Jeanne Lee, but I don't think she's singing in the piece played in 'Ghost Dog'.

Anyway, the real reason I'm posting is because I just saw a new Hat release called 'Performance (Quartet) 1979' (Braxton, Lindberg, Barker, Anderson). Any word on this one? I don't recall ever hearing of it before. Has it ever been issued?

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by Sergio Zamora

Anyway, the real reason I'm posting is because I just saw a new Hat release called 'Performance (Quartet) 1979' (Braxton, Lindberg, Barker, Anderson). Any word on this one? I don't recall ever hearing of it before. Has it ever been issued?

Yeah, that's a reissue. Decent, but not essential, iirc. Haven't listened in years tho.

[Brian Olewnick]

Originally Posted by Vince Kargatis

Yeah, that's a reissue. Decent, but not essential, iirc. Haven't listened in years tho.

Happened to listen to that (on vinyl) a couple months back and agree with Vince. OK, not essential.

[Chris Watkins]

Anybody know if there are any plans to release the recent Cecil Taylor/Braxton gig on CD?

I think the CD of the last London concert he did (Quintet London 2004 on Leo) is one of the best recent albums.