Braxton, Anthony/Ben Opie - Duets (Pittsburgh) 2008 : 2 x CDs
SKU
OMP 006
Anthony Braxton: sopranino, soprano, and alto saxophones; contrabass clarinet / Ben Opie: alto and tenor saxophones; B flat and contrabass clarinets
"Recorded May 29, 2008 at the studios of Carnegie Mellon University.
In 2008, Ben Opie led a project that brought avant-garde stalwart and MacArthur Genius Award-winner Anthony Braxton to Pittsburgh. The festival, Braxton Plays Pittsburgh Plays Braxton, included a concert by the Braxton Septet, a large ensemble concert of Pittsburgh musicians playing Braxton’s music, a high school workshop, and two improvised performances at the National Aviary. Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, Mr. Braxton requested that he and Mr. Opie record a session of duets for possible release. Those recordings are now available as Duets (Pittsburgh) 2008. Each CD consists of an approximately one hour performance, each based on one of Braxton’s Ghost Trance Musics series of compositions. Disc one is a performance of Composition 220, an early GTM in which an even series of pulsed notes gives way to a series of improvisations. Disc two is a performance of a late generation GTM, Composition 340, involves constantly-shifting rhythms, interspersed with graphic notations and improvisations. There are several lines blurred throughout: the division between composition and improvisation, and the differences between the two reed players. It's an intimate and exciting set of recordings."