Anthony Braxton - Trio and Duet

[moneyp]

Good times, eh?

[Sergio Zamora]

Woo-ha!

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally posted by mone peterson
Good times, eh?

Great times! I picked up three Braxtons this week: this one, the new one on Delmark, and the duo with Taylor Ho Bynum. Overkill?

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Sorry, Sergio, but what were the 1st 2 posts about?

[Sergio Zamora]

Post order's messed up, Dennis. The first post is my "woo-ha", which was a simple yet direct expression of enthusiasm over my first listen of this fine recording.

[Nate Dorward]

Yes--recently received copies of the new Delmark, plus Brqaxton's horn-trio set on Leo. The Leo is OK, but the Delmark I found surprisingly enjoyable (I say this as someone who's not been following the Ghost Trance Musics all that much, & I seem mostly to have heard the duds, like the awful orchestra + 4 sax disc on Leo). I suppose the Delmark is in part so enjoyable because it's very much in the vein of the "classic" Braxton quartet, & also because the melodic tracks that characterize GTM function rather like jazz heads here. (Vs. some of the more maddening GTM discs which can have VERY long sections where nothing's happening, beyond the those endless jogtrotting series of notes.)

[walto]

those endless jogtrotting series of notes.

I like that hypnotic thing.

[Sergio Zamora]

Nate, I'm listening to the Delmark right now (I have no life!), and I agree that it's very much like the classic quartet. It has the same sort of propulsion (though the percussionist is no Hemingway) and it's actually quite lyrical. To my ears and on one listen, a lot of that has to do with the piano - not just the mere presence of it, but the way Uehlinger plays it. It's not exactly like Crispell, but it reminds me of her.

And finally a melodica in modern improvised music!

[Nate Dorward]

Actually I rather liked the drummer on the disc--no, not Hemingway, & that's hardly a criticism. There's an interesting boniness to the rhythms on the disc from piano, bass & drums (all three), which is where it differs from the "classic" quartet, which flew. -- Uehlinger's quite interesting, though again in many ways very uncrispellian--a kind of plunking spiky minimalism entirely different from her style.

Michael Moore does a mean melodica, as does John Wolf Brennan.

[Sergio Zamora]

I like the drummer too, Nate. It was irrelevant of me to compare him to Hemingway. Yes, this rhythm section has a different approach from the classic quartet. Boniness? I'm not sure what you meant, but that sounds like the right word. I think it's sort of like a march rhythm, but a very fluid and trance-y march rhythm. The graphic title of one of his older GTM compositions was a picture of an elephant with some overlapped sketches. I thought that was a perfect description of the music. It's like a 'carnival de animeux' led by an elephant or something - trippy.

Anyway, back to 'Trio and Duet'. Sublime. I dunno if Braxton can play those standards straight or not, and I don't care. His playing is so wonderful in the way he slightly subverts the melodies here and there, and the fact that he's accompanied only by Holland adds to making them sound so different from the originals. Yet, they sound so fresh

[Sergio Zamora]

Oh, come now. Surely others here have an opinion on this fine piece of music.

What do y'all think of Teitelbaum's electronics on the first piece?

[Brian Olewnick]

C'mon, I've been singing the praises of this album for years. The AB/Smith/Teitelbaum piece is one of my single fave Braxton works ever.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
C'mon, I've been singing the praises of this album for years. The AB/Smith/Teitelbaum piece is one of my single fave Braxton works ever.

I was just taunting you to post.