Anthony Braxton
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Chicago, United States (1945 – present)
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinetist, flautist, pianist and philosopher. He has created a large body of highly complex work. Braxton is one of the most prolific American musicians/composers to date, having released well over 100 albums since the 1960s. Among the vast array of instruments he utilizes are the flute; the sopranino, soprano, C-Melody, F alto, E-flat alto, baritone, bass, and contrabass saxophones; and the E-flat, B-flat, and contrabass clarinets.
Braxton’s music is difficult to categorize, and because of this, he likes to reference his works (and the works of his collaborators and students) as simply “creative music.” He has claimed in numerous interviews that he is not a jazz musician, though many of his works have been jazz and improvisation oriented, and he has released many albums of jazz standards. In addition to these, Braxton has released an increasing number of works for large-scale orchestras, including two opera cycles.
Braxton’s music is highly theoretical and mystically influenced, and he is the author of multiple volumes explaining his theories and pieces—such as the philosophical three-volume Triaxium Writings and the five-volume Composition Notes, both published by Frog Peak Music. While his compositions and improvisations can be characterized as avant-garde, many of his pieces have a swing feel and rhythmic angularity that are overtly indebted to Charlie Parker and the bebop tradition.
Braxton’s music is difficult to categorize, and because of this, he likes to reference his works (and the works of his collaborators and students) as simply “creative music.” He has claimed in numerous interviews that he is not a jazz musician, though many of his works have been jazz and improvisation oriented, and he has released many albums of jazz standards. In addition to these, Braxton has released an increasing number of works for large-scale orchestras, including two opera cycles.
Braxton’s music is highly theoretical and mystically influenced, and he is the author of multiple volumes explaining his theories and pieces—such as the philosophical three-volume Triaxium Writings and the five-volume Composition Notes, both published by Frog Peak Music. While his compositions and improvisations can be characterized as avant-garde, many of his pieces have a swing feel and rhythmic angularity that are overtly indebted to Charlie Parker and the bebop tradition.
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Top Albums
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19 [Solo] Compositions, 1988
Anthony Braxton
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20 Standards (Quartet) 2003
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9 Standards: Quartet, 1993
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For Alto
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Shoutbox
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okkultestimmen wrote:
'anthony braxton and battles would be THE best thing ever' - let me think... yes.
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affasf wrote:
I'm training the soul for 2011's releases.
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ankara wrote:
i was here too
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Hirostrijn wrote:
no
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LaxATivvz wrote:
anthony braxton and battles would be THE best thing ever
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WhoIsThatGuy wrote:
no, he is mine
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piribolygo wrote:
my man
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koolkeef wrote:
His self titled BYG Actuel album is as good a place as any.
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robertnowhere wrote:
I just want to try and let people know that I’ve started a group on Facebook, the focus of which will be ambient, noise, psych, glitch, experimental, IDM and drone musics. If that sounds like your cup of grog, please click through on the link and hop on board! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_161015713952885&ap=1
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Diothalamus wrote:
man, this guy is so prolific, i keep finding new things by him all the time!
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nomad_ology wrote:
Yes it is !
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Mannequentin wrote:
is this tyondai braxton's daddy?
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woca wrote:
I enjoy his sounds a lot :-).
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Danisab wrote:
just amazing
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progtrance7 wrote:
for alto is insane [3]
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johntardsbaby66 wrote:
@fae959: See Gerry Mulligan, Coleman Hawkins (Started out on bass and switched to tenor), and Adrian Rollini. Highly regarded bass sax players. Contrabass instruments, though, are extremely hard to obtain and probably even harder to play. A lot of people have difficulty controlling the bass clarinet.
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jz900 wrote:
Heard in concert last night !played Bass Sax,Alto sax, Soprano and sopranino saxes. Wonderful !
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AceOfSpades24 wrote:
For Alto makes my head hurt.
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insomniacme wrote:
a lot of good jazz composers tend to have the ability to play multiple instruments, whether they deem their skills highly enough to feature in performances is another matter.
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fae959 wrote:
saw him playing contrabass clarinet and bass saxophone, instruments i’ve never seen before (and after, btw)
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Recent Activity
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qbreck added Anthony Braxton to qbreck’s library. yesterday afternoon
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cgern tagged Anthony Braxton with ‘free jazz’. yesterday morning
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Clark_Cargo tagged Anthony Braxton with contemporary classical, experimental, avant-garde jazz and 3 other tags. yesterday morning
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Clark_Cargo, overcomed and RBJAZZFUNKROCK added Anthony Braxton to their libraries. yesterday morning
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metalhybrid tagged Anthony Braxton with jazz and avant-garde. Monday morning
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godxmachine added Anthony Braxton to godxmachine’s library. Saturday evening
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dontboreme tagged Anthony Braxton with ‘jazz’. last week
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omwrenn tagged Anthony Braxton with avant-garde, jazz and free jazz. last week
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seibpoirier tagged Anthony Braxton with ‘avant-garde’. last month
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