This work recorded in Mestre in 2008 is released for the Caligola record. It is good to point out immediately that most of the recordings by the African-American composer in recent years have been recorded live. It is not for the novelty that the record is reported, nor for the inclusion of some guests in his usual group. We find, in fact, Braxton at the head of the "Diamond Curtain Wall", a quartet that represents a more condensed formation than its consolidated octet. They are musicians, that is, with whom the collaboration is rather usual.
Why did it make sense, in summary, to disclose this recording? First of all for the sound quality of the various tracks. Accustomed to listening to live records by Leo Records as important as documents, but often not impeccable in terms of recording quality, one is amazed, positively, by the cleanliness, the clarity, the clear differentiation between the various timbres that is highlighted by hearing this record. Then, like any self-respecting improviser, the multi-instrumentalist never repeats his program. Also in this case the composition 375 c has not been proposed again. This is, therefore, an important testimony of the artistic path of the creator of "ghost trance music".
In the city of Veneto there are four musicians of great personality with him who are able to establish an exchange with the saxophonist, an interaction that is always pulsating and lively able to implement the typical sound of Braxton's bands. Recognition belongs to the greats of jazz and we can safely say that the stylistic code of the Chicago musician indisputably distinguishes him from all the others.
Braxton's writing leaves a lot of room for soloists. He foresees open structures on which the musicians improvise in a compositional way. Roles are not defined once and for all. Each instrumentalist can take initiatives or follow the path traced by the partners. As Luigi Onori writes in the cover notes of the cd, in this way a kind of "sound democracy" is created. Here, for example, the base is often built with sturdy scaffolding produced by live electronics .
Katherine Young's bassoon, on her part, operates as a bass instrument constituting a fanciful tonal peculiarity.
Mary Halvorson is the absolute protagonist in every situation with the dry phrasing of her guitar, her concordant or discordant arpeggios, at times sweet, at other times acidic, with strong and majestic tears or punctuation, small arabesques, placed there to comment with properties the elaboration of the soloists.
Braxton rages with all the tools of him. He accompanies and suggests. He launches into whirling sequences of detached or dragged notes. He takes up an idea, a motif, takes it apart, repeats it for a long period of time, leaves it and catches it again, takes it to the point of paroxysm.
Taylor Ho Bynum, on the other hand, plays the trumpet with and without mute and finds himself wonderfully in the role of alter ego of the reeds, producing himself in a continuous search for sound effects relevant to the composition, pushing himself up or folding down, bringing out the breath, fatigue, absolute concentration in dialogue with the "Master".
After excited and overexposed phases, suddenly, in well marked moments, the waters calm down and it seems to be in the presence of a chamber quartet, but of a decidedly free chamber music.
In short, we must be grateful to Caligola Records for letting us know this certainly significant stage of the mammoth work of the American saxophonist, one that never repeats itself and that adds each time some element in progression compared to what was previously achieved. - Gianni Montano
Tracks
1. Composition 367c
2. Encore(Mestre)
KATHERINE YOUNG bassoon
MARY HALVORSON electric guitar
DIAMOND CURTAIN WALL QUARTET
TAYLOR HO BYNUM cornet, piccolo & bass trumpets, valve trombone
ANTHONY BRAXTON soprano, sopranino & alto saxophones, contrabass clarinet, electronics
All music composed by Anthony Braxton
Live recorded on 1st July 2008, during "Candiani Summer Fest", at Centro Culturale Candiani, Mestre (Venezia), Italy
Caligola - 2135 (Italy)