Wadada Leo Smith -
trumpet, flugelhorn
Anthony Braxton - saxophones
Saturn,
Conjunct the Grand Canyon in a Sweet Embrace
is the second release,
in the two part series, of a live duo performance of Wadada
and Braxton. It was recorded April 5th, 2003 at Tonic in NYC.
Wadada and
Braxton's relationship dates back to their stay in Paris in
the late 60s and their subsequent return to the states and New
York City. The later beginning a new and incredible fertile
period of music in NYC, spurned on by the new Chicago transplants
made up mostly of AACM members. This, along with Organic
Resonance, is the first recording dedicated entirely
to Wadada and Braxton's duo music. Consisting of 3 pieces, one
each by Wadada and Braxton, and then one penned by the two of
them together, this might be the only opportunity that one has
to hear this startling music.
Wadada's music is filled with the space and use of color and
texture that makes it immediately recognizable. Energetic yet
graceful, it combines elements of music from many different
cultures. Blues gets mixed with modern music in such a way that
the result is as much an improvisation on the form and sounds
as it is an improvisation of many different musical/cultural
elements mixing together.
Braxton's
music here is a marked departure from his recent endeavors in
Ghost Trance music. Braxton's tone, raspy at times, is set off
against Wadada. Waves of sound, often a single note bent and
fleshed out, converge and mix in a dance of volume, shade and
contour. With both players listening intensely to one another
the character of "Composition 316" begins to make
itself apparent slowly. The culmination is a pulling at the
seams of the music, as Wadada and Braxton contrast and compare
their interpretation and execution of the piece.
Unlike much music out there, Wadada and Braxton's music is truly
individual and systematic. Their respective approaches are the
result of a lifetime of study and the formation and execution
of ideas all pointing towards the documentation and realization
of new horizons in music. The information and music contained
in this CD will fuel a generation of musicians in the vocabulary
of duo music for the time to come.
a
u d i o s a m p l e s
click
links below for RealAudio Clips
1.
Compostion No. 316
2.
Saturn,
Conjunct
the Grand Canyon in a Sweet Embrace
56k
RealAudio stream DSL
/ Cable RealAudio stream
3.
Goshawk
© 1997-2007 Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith
