ANTHONY BRAXTON - Ten Compositions (Quartet) 2000 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The highly resourceful Anthony Braxton once again contributes an important recording in this original tribute to the compositions of unsung pianist Andrew Hill, who wrote most of the pieces on the album. The saxophonist uses an unusual combination of alto sax, guitar, bass, and drums to deliver the goods. While the piano is clearly missed, Kevin O'Neil proves himself a strong voice on guitar in what appears to be his recording debut, able to handle the quirky melodies and tough chord progressions with ease, and producing fluidly complex solos that are gracefully integrated. Braxton's surprisingly yet attractively thin voice on alto often sounds like a soprano sax, while his angular improvisations bring out the peculiarities in Hill's charts even more so than when the pianist performed them himself. Braxton seems a tad uncomfortable with some of the difficult melodies and sequences, but the upshot is solos almost completely devoid of cliché. Norton is a solid timekeeper, whatever the tempo; he knows how to stay out of the way and also when to kick and complement a line. Steve Loewy
Tracklist :
1    Virgo    12:07
2    New Arrival    8:22
3    McNeil Island    2:53
4    Black Monday    5:45
5    C-Bop    10:56
6    Pumpkin - Take 2    5:43
7    Alfred - Take 2    4:32
8    Griots    2:58
9    No Doubt - Take 2    3:13
10    Lo Joe - Take 3    7:13
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Flute – Anthony Braxton
Bass – Andy Eulau
Cover [Cover Art - Ten Pieces] – Kara D. Rusch
Drums – Kevin Norton
Guitar – Kevin O'Neil

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000 (2001) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 2001 release represents the second and final segment in a set of multi-reedman/composer Anthony Braxton's interpretations of the music of pianist/composer Andrew Hill. On this outing, the estimable artist surges forward with mainstream-like accessibility, especially when viewing his rather massive recorded legacy as a whole. Here, Braxton eschews his avant-garde tendencies, although the quintet occasionally delves into the free jazz scheme of things. The quintet pays dutiful homage to a portion of Hill's works via a series of moderate swing vamps and jazz waltz-style passages. Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman chips in on several tracks, while trumpeter Paul Smoker and guitarist Kevin O'Neil receive generous soloing opportunities. However, it's Braxton's fluttering attack and upbeat ruminations that propel the band into a surfeit of variegated excursions, as the soloists jab and spar or render their wares in sequential fashion. Ultimately, the musicians are most effective at reworking and, in some instances, decoding Hill's melodies with multidimensional frameworks and in-the-pocket grooves. Recommended. Glenn Astarita  
Tracklist :
1    New Monastery    5:52
2    Pinnacle    8:49
3    Dedication    4:34
4    Euterpe    7:28
5    Tail Feather    4:43
6    Calliope    7:31
7    Pax    5:24
8    Symmetry    9:22
9    Refuge    6:55
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Steve Lehman (pistas: 1 to 3, 5, 8, 9)
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Anthony Braxton
Composed By – Andrew Hill
Double Bass – Andy Eulau
Drums – Kevin Norton
Guitar – Kevin O'Neil
Trumpet – Paul Smoker (pistas: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9)

ANTHONY BRAXTON - 23 Standards (Quartet) 2003 (2004) 4CD SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1-1    Crazy Rhythm 16:50
Composed By – Joseph Meyer, Roger Wolfe Kahn
1-2    Off Minor 11:36
Composed By – Thelonious Monk
1-3    Desafinado 4:35
Composed By – Antonio Carlos Jobim
1-4    26 — 1 11:15
Composed By – John Coltrane
1-5    Why Shouldn't I 10:42
Composed By – Cole Porter
1-6    Giant Steps 12:32
Composed By – John Coltrane
2-1    Tangerine 14:35
Composed By – Schertzinger
2-2    Black Orpheus 13:53
Composed By – Louis Bonfa
2-3    Round Midnite 13:03
Composed By – Thelonious Monk
2-4    Ju — Ju 10:26
Composed By – Wayne Shorter
2-5    After You've Gone
Composed By – Creamer, Layton
3-1    Everything I Love 12:24
Composed By – Cole Porter
3-2    I Can't Get Started 11:09
Composed By – Vernon Duke
3-3    It's A Raggy Waltz 10:12
Composed By – Dave Brubeck
3-4    Countdown 12:08
Composed By – John Coltrane
3-5    Blue In Green 5:11
Composed By – Bill Evans
3-6    Beatrice 9:27
Composed By – Sam Rivers
4-1    Only The Lonely 6:37
Composed By – S. Cahn & J. Van Heusen
4-2    Recorda Me 15:52
Composed By – Henderson
4-3    Ill Wind 17:00
Composed By – Harold Arlen
4-4    I'll Be Easy To Find 11:29
Composed By – B. Howard
4-5    Three To Get Ready 10:29
Composed By – Dave Brubeck
4-6    Dolphin Dance 10:47
Composed By – Herbie Hancock
Credits :
Bass – Andy Eulau
Guitar – Kevin O'Neil
Painting [Front Cover Painting] – V. Kandinsky
Percussion – Kevin Norton
Saxophone [Saxophones] – Anthony Braxton

ANTHONY BRAXTON - 20 Standards (Quartet) 2003 (2005) 4CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Released a year after 23 Standards (Quartet) 2003, this second four-disc set doubles the amount of material released from Braxton's tours of Europe in early and late 2003, with the same lineup (Braxton on saxes, Kevin O'Neil on guitar, bassist Andy Eulau, and drummer Kevin Norton), same focus on jazz standards, and even the same dates in some cases. Together, the two four-CD sets released by Leo Records present recordings from ten different European dates (two in February 2003 and eight in November of that year). This second set continues with the editorial approach used in the first one: each disc consists of tracks from different concerts, brought together to make a balanced record. So this second five-hour helping adds pieces performed at shows already represented in the first box set, and covers a couple of shows that were left untouched. Leftovers? Hardly. In fact, it is easy to be convinced that all eight discs were conceived simultaneously. Again, one is struck by the multifaceted balance of the album as a whole. Jazz crowd favorites like Desmond's "Take Five," Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk," Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament," and Parker's "Blues for Alice" are presented side by side with less covered tunes, like Mulligan's "Lines for Lyons" and Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance." And, as usual in such a jazz setting, Braxton pays a loving tribute to each tune, respecting the melody, pushing it beyond the composer's wildest dreams, taking it apart and reassembling it in the most natural-sounding way. The quartet takes flight right off the starting block with a 20-minute rendition of "All the Things You Are." Other highlights include Norton's solo in "Lines for Lyons," Braxton's uncanny out-sensitivity in "Waltz for Debbie," and the slippery playfulness -- and impossible telepathy -- of the quartet in "Take Five." Since the first box set sold out pretty quickly, this one is like a second chance, with all new material. These are masterfully creative revisitations of chunks of jazz history, big and small. Limited to a thousand copies, this album, like the previous one, is bound to become a collector's favorite. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1-1    All The Things You Are 20:08
Composed By – J. Kern / O. Hammerstein
1-2    Lines For Lyons 13:53
Composed By – G. Mulligan
1-3    April In Paris 12:25
Composed By – V. Duke
1-4    Green Dolphin Street 16:07
Composed By – Kaper, Washington
1-5    Blues For Alice 13:32
Composed By – C. Parker
2-1    Alone Together 18:32
Composed By – H. Dietz + A. Schwartz
2-2    Waltz For Debbie 12:28
Composed By – B. Evans
2-3    For Heaven's Sake 13:40
Composed By – D. Meyer, Gretton, S. Edward
2-4    Freedom Jazz Dance 14:48
Composed By – E.Harris
2-5    The Song Is You 19:12
Composed By – J.Kern / O. Hammerstein
3-1    The Duke 12:24
Composed By – D. Brubeck
3-2    I Love You 13:48
Composed By – C. Porter
3-3    Lonnie's Lament 8:05
Composed By – J. Coltrane
3-4    Blue Rondo Ala Turk 14:42
Composed By – D. Brubeck
3-5    Invitation 17:09
Composed By – Kaper, Washington
4-1    Tune Up 19:15
Composed By – M. Davis
4-2    Remember 18:03
Composed By – I.Berlin
4-3    Moonlight In Vermont 15:05
Composed By – K. Suessdorf
4-4    Take Five 10:24
Composed By – P. Desmond
4-5    Serenity 13:25
Composed By – J. Henderson
Credits :
Bass – Andy Eulau
Guitar – Kevin O'Neil
Painting [Front Cover Painting] – V. Kandinsky
Percussion – Kevin Norton
Saxophone [Saxophones] – Anthony Braxton

ANTHONY BRAXTON - 19 Standards (Quartet) 2003 (2010) 4CD SET | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On November 14, 2003, a quartet led by composer, philosopher, and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton recorded more than four hours' worth of material which was issued by Leo Records in 2010 on the four-CD set 19 Standards (Quartet) 2003. This was the third four-CD set drawing upon recordings from the group's European tours during that busy and productive year. The creative small group dynamic developed by Braxton over several decades is very much in evidence as he interacts with bassist Andy Eulau, percussionist Kevin Norton, and guitarist Kevin O'Neil. Braxton's choices are astute and varied enough to make this an exceptionally satisfying effort. If to some extent "Dear Old Stockholm" and Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" suggest a nod to Stan Getz, Braxton probably first encountered "So Rare" on Jimmy Dorsey's popular Earl Bostic-flavored recording which dates from 1957. Braxton's take on the tune, which was originally published in 1937, focuses upon its beauty and elegance. A strong selection of heavyweight modern jazz standards in this set enables the unit to engage in some healthy extended jamming. It's a pleasure to hear how Braxton approaches Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue," Jackie McLean's "Little Melonae," "Mr. P.C." by John Coltrane, and "Half Nelson" by Miles Davis. The one title which you won't find on anybody else's "Standards" collection is Braxton's original "G. Petal (Improvisation)."

The range of expression resulting from Braxton's relationship with various musical traditions has always been dazzlingly expansive. Blended influences of Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and John Cage exist in perpetual combination with literally everything that has gone into the evolution of jazz over the past century. This ambitious and open-minded approach was strongly encouraged by Muhal Richard Abrams, the AACM co-founder who deliberately introduced the ideas of Scott Joplin into that organization's itinerary from the get-go. Examine Braxton's discography, and woven throughout his many assembled original compositions you're sure to detect a recurrent pattern of recordings which tap most unconventionally into the common working jazz repertoire. In the Tradition was released in two volumes by Steeplechase in 1974, and a pair of albums devoted to standards appeared in 1985 on Windham Hill's subsidiary label Magenta. Six Monk's Compositions (1987) belongs in this category as well. Braxton's tendency to reinterpret jazz standards was given free rein throughout the following decade; with the Fred Simmons Trio, with the Mario Pavone Quintet, and in two different projects, which landed Braxton behind the piano. One particularly rewarding set of realizations was issued by Leo as 14 Compositions (Traditional) 1996, in which Braxton and Stewart Gillmor each juggled multiple instruments while savoring older melodies, some of which date back to the 1920s. Braxton's involvement with the standard repertoire continued with Barking Hoop's 8 Standards (Wesleyan 2001), which may be taken as a sort of prelude to 19 Standards (Quartet) 2003, for like the other two four-CD sets, both albums feature the same sublimely intuitive quartet. For those who simply cannot get enough of this sort of music, a stunning six-CD set of standards which Braxton recorded with three Italian musicians in a Belgian cafe has been issued by the Amarani label as Standards (Brussels) 2006. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :
1-1    Four 8:20
Composed By – M. Davis
1-2    Body And Soul 16:55
Composed By – E. Heyman, F. Eyton, J. Green, R. Sour
1-3    G. Petal (Improvisation) 5:44
Music By – A. Braxton
1-4    So Rare 15:22
Composed By – T. Dorsey
1-5    It's You Or No One 18:48
Composed By [Uncredited] – Jule Styne And Sammy Cahn
2-1    Half Nelson 15:40
Composed By – M. Davis
2-2    Ruby My Dear 15:03
Composed By – T. Monk
2-3    The Girl From Ipanema 10:29
Composed By – A. C. Jobim
2-4    Afternoon In Paris 23:54
Composed By – J. Lewis
3-1    East Of The Sun 20:12
Composed By – B. Bowman
3-2    Afro Blue 12:09
Composed By – M. Santamaria
3-3    Nancy With The Laughing Face 13:25
Composed By – J. Van Heusen
3-4    Little Melonae 13:49
Composed By – J. McLean
3-5    What's New 11:55
Composed By – B. Haggart
4-1    Minority 10:10
Composed By [Uncredited] – Gigi Gryce
4-2    Inch Worm 13:28
Composed By – F. Loesser
4-3    Mr. P.C. 16:08
Composed By – J. Coltrane
4-4    Dear Ole Stockholm 9:13
Composed By – Sweedish Folk Song
4-5    Like Someone In Love 19:59
Composed By – J. Van Heusen
Credits :
Bass – Andy Eulau
Guitar – Kevin O'Neil
Painting [Front Cover Painting] – V. Kandinsky
Percussion – Kevin Norton
Saxophone [Saxophones] – Anthony Braxton