Anthony Braxton brought a legacy of improvisation to UA’s Sonic Frontiers series

Anthony Braxton was the artist in residence for the University of Alabamaâ€™s Sonic Frontiers series, February 18-25.

By Chad Radford Saturday February 28, 2015 04:25 PM EST

Christopher White

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and one of the pioneering figures in avant-garde
improvisation and composition, Anthony Braxton was the artist in residence for the University of Alabama’s Sonic Frontiers series, February 18-25. Braxton took the music world by storm in 1970 with the arrival of For Alto, a sprawling double LP that emerged as the first full-length album for solo saxophone improvisation. The momentum kicked up by such a seminal offering has propelled Braxton for more than 45 years and countless releases. Now entering his 70th year on this green earth, Braxton is still breaking musical boundaries.

Throughout his week-long residency in Tuscaloosa, Braxton performed with and led a handful of ensembles across UA’s campus.

On Feb. 21, Braxton led his Diamond Curtain Wall Music Sextet, featuring some of his main collaborators of the past 15 years, many of whom began performing his music as students at Wesleyan University, where he taught for over two decades. With Braxton (Reeds), Taylor Ho Bynum (brass), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Ingrid Laubrock (reeds), Andrew Raffo Dewar (soprano saxophone), and Carl Testa (bass) performed a 45-minute set at Moody Music Hall — engaging in a bit of telepathy, so to speak. Each performer eased into a bout of improvisation guided by Braxton’s Language Music (hand signals that prompted the musicians), excerpts from his orchestral work, Composition No. 83, Falling River Music graphic notations, and from the responsive electronic patches he designed using SuperCollider software.

The performance drifted along — traipsing and tumbling as though the group’s synergy could crumble apart at any moment. But it never did. The unyielding tension created a dreamlike ambiance that filled the vast music hall. The music’s internal rhythms and logic were revealed only through the subtle nuances, and open spaces that swelled between every sound the group uttered. To put it simply: the performance was “challenging, yet accessible,” but such a paltry phrase does little justice to just how colorful and meditative the performance turned out to be.

Christopher White

For the second half of the night, Braxton returned with a much larger ensemble to delve into a deconstructed mashup of excerpts from his 36-part Trillium Opera cycle.

This second piece brought more complexity to the stage, as various one-act scenes became intertwined, with lyrics delivered in both French and English, obscuring a coherent narrative. Midway through the set, one audience member leaned over to say, “I don’t like it when operas are sung in English.” It’s understandable. Trying to follow a singular thread, in English, was not possible. However, the juxtaposition of languages was an intentional jamming of the sense, underscoring a sense of mania. If anything, this set was about communication — at least partially — and how too much communication has jumbled up day-to-day interaction. And while all of this has become a part of American life, rare is the opportunity to stand in the presence of a true master of avant-garde expression, synthesizing the world’s follies, especially in the wilds of Alabama.