I’m very happy to share two events that are very dear to me and finally coming to fruition, both linked to my ongoing PhD research on the music of Anthony Braxton.
ANTHONY BRAXTON’S GAMBIT
50+ Years of Creative Music, DE SINGEL
On Sunday, June 5th, DE SINGEL in Antwerp is hosting a unique program: Anthony Braxton’s Gambit - 50+ Years of Creative Music - a celebration of composer and instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, who will turn 77 on June 4th. I am incredibly honoured to take part in this great event with two performances.
The evening will start with a fantastic Creative Orchestra from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (with whom, incidentally, I will make my conducting debut), playing pieces from Braxton’s legendary album “Creative Orchestra Music 1976”. The past year I’ve been working with a mix of students from the jazz and classical departments of the conservatory to perform Braxton’s Creative Orchestra compositions. This band is absolutely killing it!
Another focus in my research has been Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music compositions, an incredibly rich body of works specifically designed to function as pathways between notation and improvisation. On June 5th the Ghost Trance Septet, featuring Elisa Medinilla, Anna Jalving, Frederik Sakham, Steven Delannoye, Niels Van Heertum, João Lobo and myself, will perform Composition No. 255 from the Ghost Trance Music series (read more on the Septet’s forthcoming album release below).
The evening will end with a performance of the Maestro himself! Anthony Braxton will present his Saxophone Quartet (also featuring James Fei, Ingrid Laubrock and Chris Jonas) performing a new creation: Lorraine Music.
In addition to the concerts, there will be two lectures by Timo Hoyer (author of the book Anthony Braxton - Creative Music - Wolke Verlag) and James Fei (Tri-Centric Foundation), as well as a small exposition that I curated, giving an overview of the many different graphic scores of Braxton’s very extensive oeuvre. This expo is located at the entrance hall of DE SINGEL, running continuously until mid-June and its entrance is free.
ALBUM RELEASE
Ghost Trance Septet Plays Anthony Braxton
I’m incredibly happy to announce the forthcoming release of a double LP featuring Anthony Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music. After a previous solo album (Ghost Trance Solos, All That Dust ATD10) I invited six musicians, with backgrounds in either contemporary classical music or jazz and improvised music, to take a collective deep dive into Braxton’s musical wonderland. In the summer of 2021 this Ghost Trance Septet recorded four GTM-compositions, covering the entire spectrum of the GTM system. The result is the present double album, released by El Negocito Records.
Anthony Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music lets you step into a ritual, guided by a melody without beginning or end, a stream of consciousness that serves as the central track leading into the unknown. The Ghost Trance Musics are specifically designed to function as pathways between notation and improvisation, between past, present and future, unifying Braxton's entire fascinating musical universe. It allows for a plurality of musical practices to join forces, a trans-idiomatic arena in which Braxton helps curate intuitive experiences for both performers and listeners.
The album will officially be released on Thursday, June 2nd. There’s a release event at SMAK in Gent as part of the Citadelic concert series. I’ll play a set of Ghost Trance Solo at 19h, followed by the Ghost Trance Septet at 21h.
Further concert dates:
05/06 DE SINGEL
09/12 Visitations, Rataplan
10/12 Visitations, Rataplan
Excerpt from Timo Hoyer’s liner notes:
After the Ghost Trance Septet's performance at the Rainy Days Festival on November 13, 2021 in Luxembourg, the composer (who was booked for a trio concert at the festival) was sitting in the audience and could hardly contain himself with emotion and excitement. Understandably so. I dare say he had never experienced his GTM concept from the listener's perspective as varied, elaborate and fluid as on that day.(…) The Ghost Trance Septet does everything right on this production. Whereby "right" is not meant in the sense of correctness, which Braxton dismisses in his recommendations to performers, but in the sense of astonishing creative, daring, lustful, sensitive, and thrilling. How to play Braxton? Whoever holds this album in his hands can put a very convincing answer on the record player. Over and over again.
Kobe Van Cauwenberghe - electric & acoustic guitars, bass, synth, voice
Frederik Sakham - double bass, electric bass, voice
Elisa Medinilla - piano
Niels Van Heertum - euphonium, trumpet
Steven Delannoye - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Anna Jalving - violin
Teun Verbruggen - drums, percussion
Recorded at Werkplaats Walter, Brussels
Mixing: Nicolas Rombouts (Studio Caporal)
Mastering: Uwe Teichert
Production: Kobe Van Cauwenberghe & Rogé for el NEGOCITO Records
Art work / Title images: Anthony Braxton, courtesy of Tri-Centric Foundation
Lay-out: Jan De Wulf
Film: Kobe Wens (Rainy Days - Luxembourg, 2021)
In loving memory of Hugo de Craen (1951 – 2021), friend and friendly experiencer.
Available on double CD / double Vinyl
