By Don Phipps
There’s always a cutting edge feel to the music of Anthony Braxton, and 2
Comp (2023) released last year is no exception. What is most engaging in
Braxton’s efforts here are the dense and dissonant chords that overflow with
subtle but edgy excitement.
Take ‘Composition 445’, the album’s first track. Braxton explores a kind of
counterpoint in his bass lines as sax and trombones race along. The result
is a feeling one might experience on a train going through a tunnel – an
almost aural red shift effect. The piece, however, is not hot. For the most
part it is a subdued kind of jumble – like a morning at the office where
everyone is just starting their workday. Like recent projects, Braxton
continues his use of vocals. Here they sound almost Ligeti-like and produce
an escalator-like effect in tandem with the instruments – a movement of up
and down. The music bubbles and rumbles, contrasting starkly with the rapid
tonguing technique used by some members of the orchestra.
Braxton is not shy about using tried and true techniques like “call and
response.” On ‘Composition 445’, the saxophones respond to trumpet blatts
with short squeak bursts. And, like traffic in a city – the orchestra at
times roars, and its proximity jars the senses. Braxton also employs strange
combinations of instruments, for example – trombones interacting with a
bassoon. The piece stretches like a rubber band – as if one were nearing an
event horizon of a black hole. Trombones and bassoon, accordion interludes,
woodwind notes that bounce like basketballs – it’s Braxtonian jumbled cubist
creativity at its best.
The musicians on ‘Composition 445’ are: Accordion – Andreas Borregaard; Alto
Saxophone – Anthony Braxton; Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone – James
Fei; Bassoon – Katherine Young; Double Bass – Carl Testa, George Cremaschi;
Trombone – Reut Regev, Roland Dahinden; Trumpet – William Forman; Voice –
Andreas Halling, Anne Rhodes, Fabienne Seveillac, Juliet Fraser, Lisa
Willems, Nick Hallett, Stepan Janousek.
‘Composition No. 446 (Combination Music)’ is equally engaging if not more
intense. There’s a nightmarish feel to the odd harmonics and dissonance.
Like ocean waves, the ensemble surges and then backs off; dynamic contrasts
or other-worldly effects are followed by silence. It feels like pointillism
in art – the elements of the number (tone, rhythm, color, techniques)
singular, yet when combined, create a holistic effect. Abstractions seem to
float in the air – through turbulence to slight breezes, and everything in
between. The work dances and swirls about but at times feels uneasy – a kind
of menace just beneath the surface.
As on more recent albums, Braxton’s prefers sonics that clash – take the
electric guitar in an orchestra-ish setting. A piano line evokes
impressionism while the polyrhythmic nature of the work give rise to dits
and dots, slipping and sliding arcs, trilling, and exhortations from the
vocalists. Braxton’s unusual gift for dissonant tone clusters is also on
full display. The music moves sideways, up, down, and then sideways again –
a kind of circular rotation that provokes and intrigues and keeps things
very unsettled.
The musicians on ‘Composition No. 446’ are: Clarinet – Dafni Mengou, Rebecca
Minten, Tadashi Lewis; Conductor – Anthony Braxton, Katherine Young, Kobe
Van Cauwenberghe; Double Bass – Pablo Jimenez (7); Electric Bass – Paul Steinbeck; Flute –
Luciana Perc, Maral Yerbol, Marianne Sihvonen, Seraina Ramseier; Guitar –
Alec Goldfarb, Aleksey Potapov, Leonardo Melchionda, Orestis Tsekouras; Oboe
– Aleksandra Panasik; Percussion – Aditya Ryan Bhat, Orson Abram; Piano –
Jennifer Mong (2), Qi Qu; Trombone – Kalun Leung, Vasily Ratmansky; Trumpet
– Émilie Fortin; Viola – Alison Eom, Aruzhan Abilseit, Christoven Tan;
Violin – Ana Luisa Diaz de Cossio, Mac Waters, Paolo Vuono; Violoncello –
Audreanne Filion, Clara Dietze, Jun Sian Chee, Laurence Gaudreau, Tord
Bremnes; Voice – Elizabeth Gartman, Maria Morfeo.
With 2 Comp (2023), Braxton has once more provided another stellar
illustration of his “creative” music. His expert ability to juxtapose
instrumental voicings to create elaborate structures is in full evidence.
Those who open this door, will find a path leading to the subconscious, the
heavens, and the elemental. Enjoy!