ANTHONY BRAXTON — Creative Orchestra (Köln) 1978 (2CD 2009) + Creative Orchestra (Guelph) 2007 (2008) Serie Line – LINE 30 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This expansive two-LP set captures an entire, nearly two-hour live set by Anthony Braxton's Creative Orchestra recorded in Koln, Germany, in 1978. Braxton, like most members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a loose Chicago-based collective that also included the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others), normally performed in small groups, from duos to quartets. Braxton's Creative Orchestra -- in which the saxophonist does not play, but merely conducts his own compositions -- is a 20-member exception to this rule. Many of Braxton's compositions explore near-silence in ways similar to John Cage, but this group is nothing if not loud.

Thanks to Braxton's skill as a composer, the results never devolve into mere cacophony, even in those passages where all 20 members -- including an accordionist and a synthesizer player -- are playing at once, as in the opening "Language Improvisations." This is a powerful document of a little-appreciated side of Anthony Braxton's work. Rovi Staff  
Tracklist :
1-1    Language Improvisations    14:34
1-2    Composition 55    12:27
1-3    Composition 45    25:21
2-1    Composition 59    21:45
2-2    Composition 51    17:19
2-3    Composition 58    12:56
Credits :
Accordion – Birgit Taubhorn
Bass – Brian Smith, John Lindberg
Conductor, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Electric Guitar – James Emery
Percussion, Marimba – Thurman Barker
Piano – Marilyn Crispell
Saxophone [Saxophones], Clarinet [Clarinets], Flute [Flutes], Piccolo Flute [Piccolo], Nadaswaram [Nagaswaram], Ocarina – Dwight Andrews, J.D.Parran, Marty Ehrlich, Ned Rothenberg, Vinny Golia
Synthesizer – Robert Ostertag
Trombone, Tuba – George Lewis, James King Roosa, Ray Anderson
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Kenny Wheeler, Michael Mossman, Rob Howard, Leo Smith
Vibraphone – Bobby Naughton

Tracklist :
1    Language Improvision    5:02
2    Composition 306    7:04
3    Language Improvision    15:09
4    Composition 307 / Language Improvisation    25:36
5    Composition 91    9:00
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Evan Shaw
Bass – Rob Clutton, Victor Bateman
Cello – Tilman Lewis
Clarinet [Eb Clarinet], Bass Clarinet – Ronda Rindone
Conductor, Soprano Saxophone, Composed By – Anthony Braxton
Drums – Joe Sorbara, Nick Fraser
Flute – Rob Piilonen
Guitar – Ken Aldcroft
Guitar, Harmonica – Justin Haynes
Piano – Tania Gill
Soprano Saxophone – Kyle Brenders
Tenor Saxophone – Colin Fisher
Trombone – Scott Thomson
Trumpet – Nicole Rampersaud
Violin – Parmela Attariwala
Voice – Christine Duncan
Xylophone – Brandon Valdivia