Anthony Braxton is severely underrated. His virtuosity, technique, sound and progress in the jazz world is vital, but not always acknowledged.

So, I spent most of the evening comparing Braxton's many different tunes posted on youtube. And one detail I kept uncovering is how he never ceases to make a new mark on traditional heads and tunes that even every jazz musician on earth has played. Listen to him blow over the popular tune "Black Orpheus", noting a few things:
-the use of sopranino saxophone (huh!?)
-The way in which Braxton's combo stay pretty nicely within the changes during their solos, but the registral, timbral, harmonic and melodic outgrowths Braxton takes advantage of in his solo (beginning at 4:55)



Braxton played several standards (in fact, this tune is off a set of 23 standard tunes which Braxton plays with his quartet). Yet, he is widely criticized, some very harshly so, stating that he barely can be defined as Jazz. One of these critics is the dictator of the trumpet, Wynton Marsalis. Pardon my french, but I think Marsalis is a giant douchebag. He is notorious for his lack of knowledge and acknowledgement of jazz past 1965 into the more avant garde sub-genres. In classical music terms, I would equate this to someone who insists that Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven is the be-all-end-all of music and our attention should stop there.

Is this complete ignorance for monumental progress in jazz music? Of course. I think Braxton does a wonderful job of bridging the gap between the more accepted "traditional" jazz tunes, forms, and harmonic and melodic frameworks, slowly edging in his new ideas into each tune. His compositions, like "Composition 40B" are not truly that extreme, but with the knowledge that many of these compositions utilized graphically notated scores is another huge step in the genre. By taking better know jazz material and applying his avant garde concepts to it, new listeners can be drawn in. Take for example the tune Nefertiti, by Wayne Shorter. Off the album by Miles Davis of the same name, it is a very standard and popular album and tune (one that I was familiar with by the time I was 16!). Listen for Miles' quintessential sound, as well as the little arragements of the head that Shorter and Davis play together, as well as the accompanying rhythm section, made up of jazz GIANTS Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Ron Carter. This isn't anything too jarring, even for the most naive of jazz listeners.



Now, I present Braxton's version of Nefertiti: Full of extremes, risks, and new material you would never find on Miles' album. Also note that he is accompanied by Chick Corea and Dave Holland, two artists who are not necessarily considered avant garde in their styles, but exhibit unique versatility in this recording. I'll admit I was skeptical at first because the opening of the tune, before the head played by Braxton is quintessentially Chick Corea (aka, it sounded like every piano intro off of every Corea album), but as soon as Braxton enters, that sensation disappears very quickly.




Lastly, I will leave you of this recent video of Braxton, and the premiere performance of his Composition 358, recorded and sold as a live performance from Iridium (a jazz club in Manhattan) in 2006. Here Braxton's style does not adhere to any sort of traditional jazz means. Things to watch for:
-The pictures of Braxton's unique notation: not truly 'graphic notation', but certainly not adhering to traditional notational means
-the diverse instrumentation (bassoon, tuba, sopranino saxophone, etc.)
-The insightful dialogue over the music by Braxton



"Redefine the idea of thematic...motivic..."

"The last 2,000 years have been wonderful, but we're not at a point we need to get away from the idea of Sonata Form... we need to find a formal space equal to the possibilities we have in this genre."

In closing; suck it Wynton.