3 Compositions of New Jazz

3 Compositions of New Jazz

ASIN: B000004BF4

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The mid-'60s formation of Chicago's musician collective, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), proved a watershed event for jazz, providing a springboard for some of the next few decades' most influential performers, including the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Anthony Braxton. In many ways, Braxton's Three Compositions of New Jazz is that movement's manifesto. Seeking a new degree of abstraction and purity, Braxton opted to eschew drums or bass on these small group sessions, urging the musicians to concentrate on ensemble textures rather than tempo, forcing them to listen and interact without the support of steady, preconceived rhythms and melodies. The lineup, which includes pianist Muhal Richard Abrams on one side, and trumpeter Leo Smith and violinist Leroy Jenkins throughout, produces music that is at once organic and totally unlike the typical notion of a song or performance. Even Braxton's system of titling his work is radical: he assigns diagrams and numbers to each performance rather than a name. Braxton, who would become one of the most recorded composer/performers of the '70s and '80s, demonstrates a warmth of playing here that was often absent in his later albums. --Fred Goodman

Tracks:

Composition 6E
Composition 6D
The Bell

Amazon.com

The mid-'60s formation of Chicago's musician collective, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), proved a watershed event for jazz, providing a springboard for some of the next few decades' most influential performers, including the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Anthony Braxton. In many ways, Braxton's Three Compositions of New Jazz is that movement's manifesto. Seeking a new degree of abstraction and purity, Braxton opted to eschew drums or bass on these small group sessions, urging the musicians to concentrate on ensemble textures rather than tempo, forcing them to listen and interact without the support of steady, preconceived rhythms and melodies. The lineup, which includes pianist Muhal Richard Abrams on one side, and trumpeter Leo Smith and violinist Leroy Jenkins throughout, produces music that is at once organic and totally unlike the typical notion of a song or performance. Even Braxton's system of titling his work is radical: he assigns diagrams and numbers to each performance rather than a name. Braxton, who would become one of the most recorded composer/performers of the '70s and '80s, demonstrates a warmth of playing here that was often absent in his later albums. --Fred Goodman

Customer Reviews:

A Landmark Recording !.......2002-03-31

If you are new to this music (recorded in the late 60's) - you might ask "why did anyone want to create something like that ?"
I mean, there are barely any "rhythms", the are very few "solos", there are strange "sounds". This question is so important ! For me this question opened up so many possibilities - different approaches to rhythm, sound, arrangement... For one thing, Braxton rejects the notion that his music must have a constant drumbeat. Instead - he plays drums occasionally, more for the sound of it than as rhythmic support. Braxton uses many "sounds" - a whistle, a bell, a human voice, a harmonica, etc - they all contribute to the overall sound. The reed instruments (clarinet, sax), the piano, trumpet and the violin - carry most of the load, though, and are played magnificently.
Braxton main freshness is, to me, in his approach to structure. He does not concentrate on sound and textures as such, but as part of an effective musical structure. The use of silence is prevailent throughout - something rarely attempted in "jazz" music.
All compositions are intriguing. The first and longest is the most complex. The second has wonderful saxophone playing, and the 3rd has one of the greatest openings in "free jazz".
This is a mind opener, and highly recommended as such.

Buy it.......2000-02-07

The music on this recording represents a perfect coming together of musicianship. From the opening notes to the final sounds, the listener is taken into a new world. Varese and Bird are one. I would reccomend this one to anybody who cares about jazz and the development of jazz.I wouldn't reccomend this one to a fan of any jazz pop. Listen to Braxton's world of "mostly blue but with isolated touches of red and brown". The emphasis is on "texture" rather than the usual expectations we have for theme and variation, harmonic structure, and tempo. It is music that does not follow our typical standards for beauty rather' it sets up it's own standards for beauty. Has many moments of dense, colorful beauty. Buy it.

Average customer rating:

15 West
Dan Fogel
Manufacturer: Laughing Waters Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Funk | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA93TM
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Tracks:

Just Friends
Night in Tunisia
Blues After All
It's You or No One
Out of This World
15 West
Willow Weep for Me
I Thought About You
Broadway

Average customer rating:

Vol. 3-New View Through the Window

Manufacturer: David Lynch Music Ltd.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA6T08
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music