INTERVIEW Anthony Braxton Interview and Photos by Ken Weiss Anthony Braxton, at age 64. is a tenured pro­ AB: Thank you for your question. First, I was understanding that there would be no fessor at Wesleyan University and one of the would say, with all things considered, I do not monetary gain from my music effort. After most prolific composers and recorded musi­ see my work as jazz music, or as an affirma­ coming to terms with that decision, I have cians alive. Classified as a jaz:: avant-gardist, tion of the jazz tradition. I have respect for since gone forth to do my music and, when a title Braxton bristles ar. he could easily he those people who refer to their work as related ever possible, I have tried to document given deemed a modern classical composer. Heavilv to the jazz tradition, but I can most ce1iainly aspects of my creative work. Documentation, influenced bv master musicians such as say with honesty and gratitude that, while I for me, is not an economic consideration that Warne Marsh, Dave Brubeck, John Coltrane, have total respect for the idiomatic traditions, results in lots of monies coming in to me for Paul Desmond, as H"Cll as John Cage and my work has come about because of a love of my work. but rather, a form of closure. Once a Karlheinz Sruckhausen, Braxton has long Europe, Africa, Arabia, Asia and the world of given target project is documented and distrib­ been the target of criticism for his incorpora­ Hispania. My work is part of an effort to re­ uted, I can then go on to the next areas of my tirm of "European" concepts into his work. late to composite reality and universal im­ music system. In a career that has been 40- His sophisticated compositions are highlv pulses so as we start our interview, I would years, I have been fmiunate to have had many theoretical hut leave .\pace .fi!r improvisation like to say that 1 am not a jazz musician, I'm experiences and as far as my music system is within set guidelines. Certain pieces also com­ not connected with the antebellum umbrella concerned, I have tried, from the beginning. to bine lil'ely visuals in thejimn of cosrwnes and and its related business complexes that dic­ define my work in a way where I could talk of group mol'ements. Even his compositional tates reality for the Jazz community and the the components of those particulars that were litles and musical notation are unique, involv­ world of popular music. This mis­ being manipulated and to also talk of the evo­ ing diagrams and Cl)'ptic notation and colors. classification of my work has been part of the lution of those components from both a target Never one /o srand still, Braxton comple!es a complexities of my experiences of the last 40- isolated perspective, a unified composite or music system and moves on to 1/ze next chal­ years. Going on (to address your question), conversion perspective as well as from a lenging project. based on di{ferenl rules and yes, I have been fortunate to document differ­ transpositional perspective that would help the logics. I le is a rare inslmmenla!ist, having ent aspects of my music. In many ways, I can friendly experiencer interested in my work to mastered the saxophone familv, fi'om sopran­ relate to the central character of Rhcingold in see which way 1 was going. I took that ap­ ino /o the monstrous contrabass saxophone, Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. It is in the pre­ proach because in the beginning, it was clear along with various clarinets, .flutes and the liminary performance of Rheingold, where the to me that I was very fortunate to be alive in piano. His work combines modern themes and dwarf Alberich, makes the decision to give up the '60s, a time period of restructural change science. along with rich extrapolations drawn love (after humiliation) and to accept power and transformation, and a time period, in .fi"om the complete lif(:/ine ofja::z. instead. For me, the gambit was to give up the many ways, which corresponds exactly to the components that v,;e find ourselves dealing with in this time period. "I can understand that there were and are Jl: Your landmark recording For /11to was the first solo sax recording ever and is credited people who might not like my music, but I with creating a new language, so to speak, for the saxophone. How hard was it to convince found it amazing as a young man, how eager the record company to not only release it, but to release it as a double album? They were some of these people were to simply destroy taking quite a risk, this music was challenging me and to stop my ability to make a living for the time. AB: 1 was fortunate in that time period to be just because they didn't like my music." working with Robert Koester of Delmark Re­ cords. The project was not offered to him in a way that would make it unreasonable finan­ cially, rather like the 100 other projects that Jl: Unlike the typical jazz musician, who idea of making money from music perform­ would take place after. It wasn't presented as struggles to get his or her music out there, ance (or recording profits for that matter) and a financial dynamic that would translate into you've managed to record on greater than 230 concentrate instead on doing the best I could lots of money for Mr. Koester, it was basically albums in a 40-year period. That's an amazing do to advance my work - because as I sur­ given to him. I was fortunate that he believed accomplishment, especially for music that is veyed the world of performance dynamics for enough in my work to put it out. As far as the so challenging and genre defying. How do creative music, it became very clear that I solo musics are concerned, I usually talk of you account for your success in documenting wasn't going to make any money and so part the solo music or language music strategies as your work? of the gambit of my decision to go forward the genesis foundation of my music system. 56 V08N04 • Jazz Inside, P.O. Box 30284, Elkins Park, PA 19027 • tel: 215-887-8880 • www.jazzinsidemagazine.com Genesis foundation in the sense that the ele­ relevant questions. The music system that I've to records of Art Pepper and the great Sonny ment syntax components that comprise the been working on for the past 40-years was Criss, who no one talks about anymore. I re­ language music strategies would be the mate­ never approached as a rejection of anything; joiced in the music of Jackie McLean. There I rials that l would use to inter-feed throughout I've approached my work as an affirmation of discovered the music of the great Warne the whole system of the tri-centric thought world creativity. I consider myself a profes­ Marsh, the great tenor player whose work unit model that l have been working on for the sional student of music, not a guy who's when historically viewed from a mature per­ last 40-years. As such, at the time of that re­ formed. As such, I have tried on occasion, spective will one day be seen as equal to the cording, I had been and continue to be a stu­ when possible, to work with the traditional great work of Sonny Rollins and John Col­ dent of the music of John Coltrane, of Sun Ra, materials from my own value systems, and my trane in the 1950's. Warne Marsh' music rep­ of Arnold Schoenberg and Karlheinz Stock­ value systems are not always respected by the resented a very different concept of chromati­ hausen, but I was also a student of the great jazz critics. These are value systems concern­ cism and phrase construction logics and so, work of Yannis Xenakis and John Cage and of ing rhythmic logics, harmonic logics and ap­ yea, I'm grounded in the tradition, I still love the great music of Olivier Messiaen, Eric Dol­ plications, instrumentation and instrumenta­ the tradition. Two weeks ago, l ordered seven phy and Duke Ellington. In the '60s, among tion dynamics. As for the question regarding new CDs of Bob Dylan from Amazon.com. I the challenges that creative musicians, like working with a cross sectional spectrum of want to go back and re-review and re-examine myself, were confronted with was the chal­ musicians and using a wide variance of instru­ this great master because his work was very lenge of what constitutes identity. What con­ mentation, I've tried to learn from people like important to me as is, of course, the great stitutes the idea of identity from a trans­ the great visionary pioneer Miles Davis. Miles work of Captain Beefheart. I'm a Beefheart idiomatic perspective as opposed to an idio­ Davis would advance his work forward with kind of guy! The tradition has always been matic perspective? This was so because in the his great quintet with Red Garland, the great important to me, it's just that my relationship time frame of the '60s, more and more, evolu­ Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers and of to the tradition was not a generic relationship tion involved taking into account music from course, Mr. Coltrane. That quintet advanced that started at New Orleans and advanced up more than one idiom and music from outside the music to such an incredible level that to 1965.