Anthony Braxton Quartet (Moscow) 2008

Album Review

On June 29, 2008, Anthony Braxton's Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet performed live at the DOM Cultural Center in Moscow. Within months, a 73-minute recording of the gig was released by Leo Records, the U.K.-based label which first attracted international attention in the '80s with a series of records by the Ganelin Trio and other Russian free jazz players, many of whom who were persecuted by the Soviet government for pursuing individualistic paths which, in retrospect, were in creative alignment with what the Braxton unit presented near the heart of Moscow in 2008. In the weeks leading up to his arrival in the former U.S.S.R., Braxton's itinerary included a visit to West Orange, New Jersey to record the album Beyond Quantum with William Parker and Milford Graves; a session with multi-woodwind artist Ben Opie, several ambitious undertakings with larger ensembles in Pittsburgh, and a trio date in Berlin involving Serge modular synthesizer handler Andre Vida and drummer Corey Fogel. Small wonder then that in the album cover photo he looks a bit tired, if clearly elated. The performance preserved on this album consists of Composition 367 B followed by a three-minute encore. Braxton blew soprano and alto saxophones as well as E-flat and contrabass clarinets. He is heard interacting with his student and collaborator Taylor Ho Bynum, an accomplished cornetist from Boston who also employed bass trumpet, valve trombone, flügelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. The third wind instrumentalist in this group was bassoonist Katherine Young, an adventuresome soul who was a member of Braxton's Falling River Quartet and his Tri-Centric Orchestra. Young has also recorded with flutist Andrew Raffo Dewar. The inclusion of electric guitarist Mary Halvorson over a swath of computer-generated sounds added several extra dimensions to the already multifaceted Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet. The Quartet's next recording (Composition 367 C and an encore) was made at the Candiani Summer Fest in Mestre, Italy on the first of July and issued in 2011 by Caligola Records as Quartet (Mestre) 2008. Braxton did not remain in Italy for very long. Eleven days later, he was back home in Connecticut at Wesleyan University recording a pair of extended duets with pianist Maral Yakshieva.