[Dixielandjazz] Now here's a Press Release

[Steve barbone]

You might not dig the music, but the press release is something else.
CAVEAT, not OKOM, but some might admire the hyperbole. Note especially the
reference to "non Jazz Artist" John Cage. :-) VBG.

Cheers,
Steve


IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10023
RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121, www.iridiumjazzclub.com Sets at 8 & 10PM
RARE EXTENDED CLUB DATE - March 16-19

ANTHONY BRAXTON (12+1)TET
Braxton (alto and sopranino saxes, compositions), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet,
flugelhorn, trombone), Jessica Pavone (viola, violin), Jay Rozen (tuba,
euphonium), Carl Testa (bass, bass clarinet), Aaron Siegel (percussion,
vibraphone), Andrew Raffo Dewar (soprano and c-melody sax, clarinet), Reut
Regev (trombone, flugelbone), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon, shenai), Nicole
Mitchell (flutes), Mary Halvorson (guitar) Stephen Lehman (alto & sopranino
saxes) and James Fei (alto sax & bass clarinet)

Genius is a rare commodity in any art form, but at the end of the 20th
century it seemed all but non-existent in jazz, a music that had ceased
looking ahead and begun swallowing its tail. If it seemed like the music had
run out of ideas, it might be because Anthony Braxton covered just about
every conceivable area of creativity during the course of his extraordinary
career. The 1994 MacArthur Fellowship recipient and multi-reedist/composer
might very well be jazz's last bona fide genius. Braxton began with jazz's
essential rhythmic and textural elements, combining them with all manner of
experimental compositional techniques, from graphic and non-specific
notation to serialism and multimedia. Influenced especially by saxophonists
Warne Marsh , John Coltrane , Paul Desmond , and Eric Dolphy and non-jazz
artists John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen as well.

 Anthony Braxton creates music of enormous sophistication and passion that
is unlike anything else that had come before it. He was able to fuse jazz's
visceral components with contemporary classical music's formal and harmonic
methods in an utterly unselfconscious and convincing way. His best work is
on a level with any art music of the late 20th century, jazz or classical.