Months ago, probably at the start of my senior year, I read about Anthony Braxton, renowned multi-instrumentalist and philosopher. I was definitely interested in what he had to offer, so I immediately went and downloaded something called "For Alto," knowing absolutely nothing about it. Like most of my music so far, I didn't get a chance to listen to it.
I was job searching yesterday and walked into Record Theater for an application to fill out. I was going to go immediately out and head home... But I walked into the door that was entrance only, and the exit was on the other side of the cash register... So I decided to browse.
I ended up spending three cents short of 50 bucks, but I'd say it was worth it. I got a Wayne Shorter release (High Life), Pat Metheny Trio's Day Trip, and a release from Taylor Made Jazz (a locally-based group I got to play with when I was 13). Before all of those, though, Anthony Braxton's Saxophone Improvisations Series F caught my eye. The cover art (if you could even call it that), was weird, but not any more weird than the way songs were named (I remembered he used a method called conceptual grafting, highly complex).
You'd think he did shit like that just for attention. To seem like some eccentric genius. I listened to the first CD and none of it even mattered anymore. He was doing things on a saxophone that I had never experienced. I'm not talking about bullshit like mimicking another's pattern. He was pushing the alto saxophone to a limit that had not been exhausted. At the same time, he could play something that had a compelling melody. Accessible isn't the word, but it wasn't avante-garde.
Anthony Braxton seems to be severely underrated. The world of music as a whole seems to neglect the role jazz had on the subsequent genres we enjoy today, but more importantly it sometimes leaves out some of the biggest innovators and pioneers in favor of the "next big thing."
Then again, Michael Jackson is enough proof that some people won't give a fuck unless you're dead. Amazing. Labels: The Vibe
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