| Discography of Joe Fonda | 1997 |
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Lineup
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Recorded live at Yoshi's on August 20, 1997.
Released May 2002 by Leo Records [LR 343/344]
q.v. Vol. 2 (with liner notes by Steve Day), Vol. 3, and Vol. 4
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CD Reviews
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August 2002 by Dân Warburton for Paris Transatlantic Magazine Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance music is finally coming out on disc - "Yoshi's", which follows the earlier outstanding "Composition N.247" (Leo CD LR 306), includes Compositions 207 and 208 (72' and 71' respectively), scored for six horn players (Braxton, Brandon Evans, James Fei, Jackson Moore, Andre Vida and JD Parran, playing twenty-five instruments between them), electric guitar (Kevin O'Neill), bass (Joe Fonda) and percussion (Kevin Norton). The nine players occasionally split up into three trios which, while remaining under the global control of Braxton, set off in different directions, playing the Ghost Trance material at different tempi, as well as occasionally adopting "secret strategies" of their own. Braxton's concept of "pulse tracking", using strings of notes to provide a pulse within a compositional structure, may be, to quote Steve Day's extensive liner notes, "persuasive", but it is also pretty exhausting. In "Composition 247" the sheer physical effort involved for Braxton and Fei, circular breathing throughout (bagpiper Matthew Welch had it easy) was exhilarating; here, the abundance of saxophones and clarinets tends to clog up the texture, leaving one gasping for breath, or least hoping for a few seconds of silence which never come. "Composition 208" is slightly less busy, and there's some spectacular work from Braxton himself, but much of it lies half-buried in a thick stew of baritones and bass clarinets. Were these works performed by a standard contemporary music chamber ensemble (why doesn't Braxton interest the Ensemble Modern in a performance?), the texture would at least be more variegated - there would, though, still remain the notes. I recall preparing an interview with Harrison Birtwistle a while back, when I asked a composer friend which questions I ought to ask: "Does he care about his pitches?" came the reply. The overriding impression received from this album as well as the recent "Composition N.169 + (186 + 206 + 214)" is that pitch comes pretty far down the list of Braxton's priorities. What do we listen to music for? The answer to that question will inevitably be different for each person asked - the music that means the most to me is that which leaves me, albeit slightly, a different, changed individual from what I was before. That is partly a function of memory, of being able to locate oneself in the piece during and especially after listening - with Braxton's recent music, one is left with the sense that one has undergone a challenging intellectual experience while at the same time being unable to remember anything of it except the sketchiest details. It's like jogging: most folk do it because they think they ought to or imagine they'll be in better health for doing it, but very few people I see huffing and puffing round the park on Sunday mornings actually look as if they're enjoying the experience. Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Paris Transatlantic Magazine and Dân Warburton. All reviews written by Dân Warburton:
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Paolo Peviani for All About Jazz Italia Il Professor Anthony Braxton sale in cattedra un'altra volta e con questo nonetto (o forse sarebbe meglio dire novetto, per mantenere il gioco di parole tra nonet e ninetet) ci fornisce un'ennesima dimostrazione della sua grandezza ed originalit?. Due composizioni lunghissime, 72 minuti netti la prima, 71'09" la seconda, registrate dal vivo allo Yoshi's al termine di una intensa settimana (dodici performance) di lavoro. Le influenze di Braxton, che sappiamo spaziare da Roscoe Mitchell a Arnold Schoenberg, si sentono tutte, ma proprio tutte, sia dal punto di vista compositivo che dell'orchestrazione. L'ascolto di questo album ? naturalmente impegnativo, non solo in termini di tempo e concentrazione richiesta, ma anche di quantit? di idee che scaturiscono dalla musica del sassofonista. In questi giorni su Radiotre Rai intorno alle 18.00 raccontano la biografia di Braxton e fanno ascoltare qualche frammento di sue composizioni. Se volete comprendere ed apprezzare una delle figure fondamentali della musica americana di questo secolo, non mancate all'appuntamento. Valutazione: * * * Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 All About Jazz Italia and Paolo Peviani. |
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Timo Hayer for Jazzthetik 04'03 (April 2003), pages 80-81 • Anthony Braxton • Anthony Braxton • Anthony Braxton / Scott Rosenberg • Anthony Braxton with Alex Horwitz Anthony Braxton ist ein Komponist mit Systemanspruch. Seit über 30 Jahren bastelt er unermüdlich an den Parametern seines musikalischen Universums, dessen Außengrenzen sich ständig erweitern. Ein Entdeckungsreisender in seiner eigenen Welt. Die Koordinaten in diesem Makrokosmos sind gesättigt vom Gestus des progressiven Jazz und sie haben die konzeptionellen Impulse der Neuen Musik aufgenommen. Braxton, der Rastlose, der Unbeirrbare, macht transidiomatische Musik, die seitjeher danach strebte, ein eigenes Idiom zu bilden. Seit nunmehr acht Jahren scheint er am vorläufigen Ziel seiner Wünsche angekommen. über hundert Kompositionen sind in diesem Zeitraum entstanden, von denen die meisten einem hausgemachten Genretypus angehören: Ghost Trance Musics (GTM). Das war anfangs eine komplexitätsreduzierende Maßnahme. Braxtons Quartet- und Ensemblemusik hatte zu Beginn der 90er Jahre einen Grad an Dichte und Vielschichtigkeit erreicht, der schwerlich zu steigern war. Die ersten GTM wirkten dagegen wie Kahlschlagprogramme. Die repetitiven Melodielinien, die typisch sind für diese Kompositionsmodelle, strahlen eine strenge symmetrische Klarheit aus. Deren Brillanz erinnert von ferne an die Anfänge der Minimal Music, aber auch Assoziationen an rituelle Musik und Marschrhythmen stellen sich ein. Das ist bei den aktuellen Stücken nicht anders als bei den Prototypen, nur dass der Grad an Komplexität wieder erheblich zugenommen hat. Die GTM stellen mittlerweile eine konsequente Fortsetzung der Quartetmusik mit etwas anderen Mitteln dar. Hier wie dort werden verschiedenste Kompositionsfragmente und Spielanweisungen, die sich auf der Zeitachse mal überlagern und mal ablösen, zu einem mitreißenden Fluss ohne Ufer collagiert. Die kantig-pulsierenden Patterns der GTM bilden dabei die ständig wiederkehrenden Orientierungsmarken, von denen aus die Protagonisten zu den unterschiedlichsten Exkursionen aufbrechen. ... Wer die Investition in 4 CDs scheut, dem sei die Doppel-CD Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 1 ans Herz gelegt. Im besagten Jahr hat Braxton in Oakland an sechs aufeinander folgenden Abenden doppelt so viele GTM aufgeführt. Die zwei jetzt veröffentlichten bestechen vor allem durch einen Gruppensound, der in seinen schönsten Momenten von Jackson Pollock gemalt sein könnte. Ein faszinierenderes Ineinandergreifen von Statik und Bewegung gab es nie. Die GTM spielen aber nicht nur mit der Zeit, sondern auch mit dem Raum. Die neun Musiker verstehen es prächtig, aus parallelen Klangtexturen ein plastisches Gebilde zu formen, dessen Innenleben auch in den Momenten größter Turbulenz durchsichtig bleibt. Ensemblemusik mit Verstand und Sinnlichkeit. ... Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Jazzthetik and Timo Hayer. |
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Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery This brilliant set contains two long (72 minute) "ghost trance" works, "Composition No. 207" and "Composition No. 208". After last year's deluge of some dozen plus recordings from visionary/composer/saxist Anthony Braxton, this year there has just been a few, so us Braxton fan-addicts can breathe and absorb a bit. This year's Braxton booty has had only '8 Standards/Wesleyan 2001' (2 CD set) on Barking Hoop and 'Six Compositions GTM 2001' on Rastascan (4 CD set). Mr. Braxton has been exploring his latest development, the "Ghost Trances Series" throughout the late nineties, with nearly a dozen releases so far, six on his own Braxton House label alone. "Ghost Trance" deals with his ensemble playing a certain repeating phrase over and over together at the beginning and then the lines mutate as the piece evolves. This is a simplified version of what becomes much more complex as it does change, with solos erupting and different combinations of players connecting on various levels. This release begins with the nine-tet playing their difficult, fractured and circus-like lines together and it soon becomes more streamlined and easier to follow. There is a certain amount of droning going, which does give this a trance-like haze, as it rises and falls in waves. Besides numerous sax, flute and clarinet solos from the six reeds players, pure-toned jazz guitarist Kevin O'Neil, bassist Joe Fonda and percussionist Kevin Norton also provide fascinating textures and inspired solos throughout. Much of this music is closer in sound to contemporary classical, with a bit of Zappa's sly humor as just the right amount of spice. Both of these two cds are long, one track journeys which require patience and time and for me both are completely captivating throughout. Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Lee Gallanter. All reviews written by Bruce Lee Gallanter:
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Maurizio Favot for Suono Recensito su Suono n° 346 del 7-2002 Tra le tante cose in cui Anthony Braxton è grande, c'è anche la sua iper-produttivitą. Quello in esame è il 20° titolo pubblicato dalla Leo, ma ci sono decine di altre etichette che hanno documentato l'opera del cinquantasettenne chicagoano, la cui figura senza eguali di musicista-saggista (ha scritto anche di Pirandello e su The Jew of Malta di Christopher Marlowe) filosofo etc. etc. giganteggia nel panorama culturale degli ultimi sette lustri (ha esordito discograficamente nel '67, pubblicando già l'anno successivo, come leader, Three Composition of New Jazz). Prolifico lo è stato sempre (andatevi a vedere la discografia curata da Jason Guthartz, vi ci perdete!), ma da quando insegna alla Wesleyan University registra praticamente tutto… Qui lo troviamo, nell'agosto del '97, a capo di un nonetto, con Brandon Evans, James Fei, Jackson Moore, Andre Vida, J.D. Parran, Kevin O'Neill, Joe Fonda e Kevin Norton, per un totale di sei fiatisti, più chitarra, contrabbasso e batteria. Due composizioni (n. 207 e n. 208) che superano i 70 minuti: strutture complesse, improvvisazioni collettive, il gruppo che si frammenta in trii, duetti, che s'interseca in mille combinazioni. L'ascolto è impegnativo, ma ogni tanto vi dovrete pure sforzare un po'. O no? Voto artistico: 8 Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Suono and Maurizio Favot. |
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