Saxophonist, reedplayer and composer Anthony Braxton has had a long relationship with the Swiss Hat family, with hatHUT putting out period releases in the late '70s-80s, hatART adding reissues and hatOLOGY new and archival releases. Now ezz-thetics, the label's latest endeavor (offering "previously unreleased recordings of historical and musical importance" alongside packaged reissue sets and new sessions), has joined the Braxton party with Solo Bern 1984, First Visit.
The title is a tad misleading as Braxton had performed in the titular Swiss city in 1981 with a fascinating quartet of Marilyn Crispell, Ray Anderson and Hugh Ragin, released by hatART as part of Composition 98. But this is his sole unaccompanied performance there and solo is both one of his preferred formats and best way to appreciate his vision distilled down to its essence.
To emphasize the previously remarked "historical importance" of this recording: three compositions get their first documentation; another three (as well as standards "I Remember You" and "Naima" predate later versions; and a final six (plus two more standards in "Giant Steps" and "Alone Together") are new iterations of previously recorded works. Demonstrating the range, Braxton revisits "Composition 26 B" from 1972's Saxophone Improvisations Series F (America) while "Composition 170 C" would not be heard until Wesleyan (12 Altosolos) 1992 (hatART).
Much like his solo saxophonist peer Evan Parker, Braxton's oeuvre is chapters in a long tome he has been creating since 1969's groundbreaking For Alto (Delmark). Unlike Parker, however and more like another member of the brotherhood in Steve Lacy, Braxton focuses on his compositions and their unique structures and intentions, providing both contrast and inspiration by the inclusion of works from the Great American Songbook and here John Coltrane, who died 41 days after Braxton (at only 22 years old) made his recording debut with Muhal Richard Abrams.
Braxton is heard exclusively on alto in pithy renditions for the hour-long performance and Solo Bern 1984, First Visit is another good opportunity to remember him not just as a composer, bandleader and conceptualist but also as one of the instrument's most iconoclastic practitioners.
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