Braxton band members Mary Halvorson and Taylor Ho Bynum urged their leader to collaborate with guitarist Joe Morris and, following a booking at the Crowe Auditorium, Wesleyan University, the twosome proceeded to immerse themselves completely. Braxton was impressed by the results and decided that only a four-disc box set would suffice. Fortunately, Clean Feed is a heroic releaser of such ambitious projects, hence this substantial offering. Each of the four discs contains a single improvisation, around an hour in length.
It's unusual for Braxton to improvise with complete freedom. Ordinarily, he'll fly off within some preordained structure. This was the first time that Braxton and Morris had played together and were both marveling at their instant rapport. This is not to say that these pieces waft around in a perpetual state of abstraction. Before too long, both players are naturally forming rhythmic progressions and even constructing instant melodies, sometimes within a vaguely jazz-chording line, but often following a more serpentine pathway.
Braxton can't help but seek out structure, while Morris consciously sets out to avoid any tendency towards preplanning, or even instantaneous planning. This makes the guitarist's almost constant chording activities quite remarkable, even though these are not chords normally known to jazz. Morris plays like Derek Bailey would have, if he'd kept closer to his original dance band rules. It's as though Morris sees himself as an avant Wes Montgomery or Charlie Christian. Braxton too solos in the jazz manner and this makes their duo development a descendant of a traditional coupling, even though it frequently sounds extreme in its guttural death throes. Braxton is usually the extremist.
At first, they tentatively probe each other's methods, Morris carefully padding, Braxton threading tiny filaments on alto. Where Morris has a single guitar, Braxton has arrived with his complete truck of saxophones, from midget sopranino down to monster contrabass. He's soon growling on bass saxophone, but the alto allows greater smoothness, a more lyrical liquidity. Morris scrapes dryly and it sounds like Braxton's standing in front of his most powerful horn, the contrabass, while Morris picks fast speckles. Around 13 minutes into the second improvisation, Braxton makes a brief pause and it's pleasing to hear Morris on his own, although this solitude doesn't last for long. They enter a tuneful phase, with Braxton spontaneously creating a melody line. The guitar's spidery deftness contrasts with Braxton's hippo snortings, but Morris is nowhere near as sonically varied as the reedman. He seems content to provide rhythmic patterns for most of the course, leaving Braxton to guide a tour through his wonderfully diverse array of horns, textures, speeds, tones and tunes. When Braxton climaxes and withdraws, Morris often appears uncertain when suddenly placed under the spotlight, but it's never too long before the saxophonist returns. About twenty minutes into CD3, Morris sets up a repeat phrase that sounds like something from Fred Frith's prepared table guitar. He's definitely interested in the art of structure- establishment, as Braxton rages off into another extensive growling session. This is ironic, given that each player's actual results sound like the end product of each other's avowed improvising intentions. A day's pause between airing each disc is advised, but this fine set is well suited for dipping-in at leisure. - Martin Longley
Congratulations to the excellent Portuguese label Clean Feed, not only because this is its 100th release, but also for their continuous effort to bring new avant and free talent into the spotlight, while at the same time managing to publish albums with vested names like Anthony Braxton and Joe Morris. Many (young) artists would not have received the possibilities they get now without Pedro Costa's ongoing attention. And sure, not every album is a hit, but for me personally, some of the Clean Feed albums are in my list of most appreciated records of the last years : The Nu Band, Dennis Gonzalez, Mark O'Leary, Herb Robertson, Stephen Gauci, The Lisbon Improvisation Players, Carlos Barretto, Vinny Golia, Tony Malaby, Steve Lehman, Raymond MacDonald & Gunter Sommers, Adam Lane, Rob Brown, to name just a few.
Back to Clean Feed 100 : it brings four CDs of each one hour of free improvisation. And I must admit that I had my opinion about both Joe Morris and Anthony Braxton before putting on the first disc. I like Joe Morris's sense of adventure, and I also think he has composed wonderful music (King Cobra for instance), yet I prefer him as a bass player than as a guitarist, because on the latter instrument he lacks lyricism, usually creating sounds as if his guitar is speaking rather than singing, or even reproducing the musical equivalent of background chatter. Braxton I like at times, but I find him often too abstract and intellectual.
But what you get here, goes totally against my opinionated prejudices. Maybe because the two musicians never played together, maybe because it's entirely improvised, without prepared themes, melody, structure : it works beautifully. Morris's soft-toned parlando style little guitar sounds seem to have an incredible effect on Braxton who is lyrical as I've seldom heard him. Both musicians listen extremely closely and actually compose on the spot, moving these long improvisations through different moods and musical landscapes, but then of the low and hilly kind, without high peaks or deep chasms. The music is fragile, sensitive, deeply emotional and vibrating with life and musical joy. This is disciplined, controlled, warm and creative music, and as free as it can get. You would think that four times one hour would be the perfect recipe for boredom, but it's not : the four improvisations offer music with the same coherent focus, yet they are different, and there is even some kind of evolution to be noticed. On the first improvisation, both musicians start from their own comfort zone, easily recognizable as Morris & Braxton. On the fourth improvisation, the music sounds as if preconceived, with Morris playing arpeggiated figures and Braxton actually playing something close to a melody, including almost playing patterns and repetitions, but then not, just touching on them. And while Joe Morris keeps his guitar sound throughout the four improvisations, Braxton changes his instrument on a regular basis, using the whole sax range from sopranino to contrabass saxophone. And only when Braxton uses the latter, does Morris give his guitar a little more of a high-pitched tone. In the hands of amateurs free jazz tends to becomes cacophonic noise. Free jazz in the hands of masters is the ultimate form of music. This, this is sublime. This record is absolutely stunning. - freejazzblog.org
Tracks
1. Improvisation I
2. Improvisation II
3. IMprovisation III
4. Improvisation IV
JOE MORRIS guitar
ANTHONY BRAXTON sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, contrabass saxophone, c melody saxophone
All improvisations by Anthony Braxton and Joe Morris
Recorded July 30, & 31, 2007 at Wesleyan University in Crowell Auditorium
Clean Feed - CF100CD (Portugal)