Jazz | Pint | Braxton minus Braxton

 I’m still undecided as to what to play at next week’s listening session. So I’ve been working through the pile of albums. There’s been quite a bit from ECM – Mette Henriette’s debut album had a spin last night (I still haven’t got to her follow up Drifting), Tim Berne’s Snakeoil has seen some action too. But tonight it is Anthony Braxton.... Well kind of – it’s Braxton minus Braxton. Thumbscrew’s Anthony Braxton Project and Marilyn Crispell/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway Play Braxton. I started with the latter – three quarters of Braxton’s quartet from the mid-80s-mid-90s. And this album is much more approachable than I remembered (it has been a while between listens) but still will be pushing the limits of the listening group which leans far more mainstream. But maybe throwing in one of the shorter pieces could work. It’s definitely an album I will keep up my sleeve for next week (I’ll likely make my decision on the night). The Thumbscrew album has an advantage in that a number of tracks clock in at 3 minutes or under which could allow me to play a track from another album too. Typically the group prefer to share shorter tracks – even 8 minutes can be pushing your luck – and that can make it hard to select tracks. So, will the friends be listening to people playing Anthony Braxton next week? I’m not sure just yet, but sometimes I see it as my role take things in a different direction from their usual fare – and both of these albums check that box.

Tonight’s listening was accompanied by a Sin Eater from North End... in a chalice.... because why not?

Record Store Day

As you may have heard Saturday April 20 was Record Store Day. I took it pretty easy and only went to the Jazz Record Mart. I timed my run to coincide with the in-store performance of Nick Mazzarella (as) Devin Hoff (b) & Mike Reed (d).

Nice to see a decent crowd in the store (the pics below are from after the trio's set and the crowd had thinned a bit). It was quite pleasant strolling the aisles accompanied by a live band.

I picked up two solo saxophone albums - Anthony Braxton's classic "For Alto" (Delmark 1969) - not sure why it has taken this long for me to get it - and Evan Parker's "Chicago Solo" (Okka Disc 1995) - Parker's first album dedicated to solo tenor (after many solo soprano albums).