Category: General

AMN Celebrates Braxton 75: Part IV

~ cdechiara ~ Leave a comment

Braxton_anthony_moers_260507Welcome to AMN Celebrates Braxton 75, a multipart series focused on the work of American composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton. Braxton, who in 2020 will be celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday, is one of the most important and influential creative minds of the past fifty years. Each week this series will feature three to four links of live performances, interviews, and articles found on the web that should be of interest to both the curious and the longtime explorers of Braxton’s music.

The Sounds of Now, Part Three: Anthony Braxton and the Ethics of Improvisation by Chadwick Jenkins from 2007 is a very insightful essay that digs into Braxton’s musical philosophy. Jenkins very clearly explains his interpretation of some of the ideas found in Braxton’s Tri-Axium Writings. It is very well written and should be read carefully, and maybe more than once in order to digest Jenkin’s interpretation of Braxton’s writings.

This is a recent performance of Braxton’s Composition No. 1 (1968) for solo piano performed by Brett Carson.

A short interview from 2008 where Anthony Braxton discusses chess, math & music.

A set of the Anthony Braxton Quartet performing in East Berlin in 1985. The group for this concert is Anthony Braxton, Marilyn Crispell – piano, Gerry Hemingway – drums and Jens Saleh – bass. You can hear the magic that Hemingway, Crispell, and Braxton have together.

Join us again next week for another post as AMN Celebrates Braxton 75

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Chris De Chiara

AMN Picks of the Week: Steven Mackey / Chicago Underground Quartet / Brenner & Molenaar / Collector / Mr. Smolin and Vince Meghrouni

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Here is where I post, at a frequency of about once a week, a list of the new music that has caught my attention that week. All of the releases listed below I’ve heard for the first time this week and come recommended.

Steven Mackey – Time Release (2019)
Chicago Underground Quartet – Good Days (2020)
Brenner & Molenaar – Uninvited Savior (2020)
Collector – Post Rock Lately (2019)
Mr. Smolin and Vince Meghrouni – Play Free (2019)

RIP Jimmy Heath 

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Source: NPR.

Jimmy Heath, a prolific saxophonist, composer and bandleader who played alongside some of the biggest names of jazz, including Miles Davis and John Coltrane, has died. Heath died Sunday morning in Loganville, Georgia of natural causes, his grandson told NPR. He was 93 years old. His family was at his side, including his wife of 60 years, Mona Heath, his children Mtume and Rozie, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and his brother, drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath. In a career that spanned seven decades, Heath brought the bebop he loved to big bands — and into the 21st century.

AMN Picks of the Week: Mark Segger / Mati Pirsztuk / Fulmedesh / Quatuor Bozzini / Jean Derome

~ Mike ~ Leave a comment

Here is where I post, at a frequency of about once a week, a list of the new music that has caught my attention that week. All of the releases listed below I’ve heard for the first time this week and come recommended.

Mark Segger Sextet – Lift Off (2020)
Mati Pirsztuk – Abstract Walls (2016)
Fulmedesh – Caracoles de una Ciudad Enterrada (2020)
Quatuor Bozzini – Simon Martin: Musique d’Art (2019)
Jean Derome – Somebody Special (2019)

AMN Celebrates Braxton 75: Part III

~ cdechiara ~ Leave a comment

Braxton_anthony_moers_260507Welcome to AMN Celebrates Braxton 75, a multipart series focused on the work of American composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton. Braxton, who in 2020 will be celebrating his seventy-fifth birthday, is one of the most important and influential creative minds of the past fifty years. Each week this series will feature three to four links of live performances, interviews, and articles found on the web that should be of interest to both the curious and the longtime explorers of Braxton’s music.

In 1973 Bill Smith interviewed Anthony Braxton for Coda Magazine.  Smith removed the questions from the interview so that it reads like an essay.  The interview offers some insight into Braxton’s development as a musician and his determination to be true to himself and his vision, despite the potential consequences. “Anthony Braxton Interview 1973” by Bill Smith.

This is a very good recording of the first set at The Kitchen in 1977 of three of the AACM’s titans – Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, and Joseph Jarman.  There is no video but the performance is astounding! The second set is also floating around and worth checking out.

The Instant Composers Pool (ICP) is an independent Dutch jazz and improvised music label and orchestra founded in 1967.  In this short excerpt of a 2005 performance at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, they are joined by Anthony Braxton.

Join us again next week for another post as AMN Celebrates Braxton 75

Previous Segments

Chris De Chiara