"Over the course of six decades NEA Jazz Master Anthony Braxton has created a singularly vast and variegated body of music as a composer and recording artist, an oeuvre encompassing projects ranging in scope from his pioneering 1969 solo saxophone album For Alto to 2016's epic opera Trillium J (The Non-Unconfessionables). Musicians around the world have been coming together over the past year to celebrate his 75th birthday with an array of performances and recordings, but leave it to the all-star collective trio Thumbscrew to focus an utterly personal lens on previously unheard compositions with The Anthony Braxton Project. For fans familiar with Braxton's music the project offers a whole new window into his genius for designing protean musical situations pregnant with possibilities. Those less acquainted with his work might find themselves enthralled and amazed by the sheer diversity of rhythmic and melodic material explored by Thumbscrew. The trio's fifth album extends the group's relationship with Cuneiform, which has released all of the band's recordings.

Invited to explore the Tri-Centric Foundation's voluminous Braxton archives in New Haven, Conn. as part of the Braxton75 celebration, drummer/percussionist Tomas Fujiwara, guitarist Mary Halvorson and bassist Michael Formanek spent a long afternoon looking for rarely played pieces that could fit their instrumental palette. "The idea was for us to choose compositions of Anthony's, mostly early compositions, which hadn't been previously recorded (or, in a couple cases, recorded only once or twice)," says Halvorson. "We chose pieces that captured our imagination and that we thought would work well for the instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums or vibraphone. Our choices included graphic scores, complex notated pieces, and everything in between."

Like with several previous Thumbscrew albums, the triumvirate used an extended, four-week residency at City of Asylum in Pittsburgh to prepare for the recording. Working on the music daily (while also honing a new book of original Thumbscrew compositions), they developed arrangements of varying detail based on the scores and the corresponding catalogue notes for each composition. While aiming to understand and execute Braxton's intention with each piece, the nature of his music required them to shape the material anew. "We have a shared language in terms of how we improvise, but the composition very much guides and informs our improvisations, so having music from a new composer puts us in a different frame of mind and adds another layer to what we do as a trio," Fujiwara says. "Looking through the Tri-Centric Archives, we were like kids in a candy store-a feeling that there were unlimited options that all would work for us and be a joy to explore-and we had a great guide in Tri-Centric's Carl Testa. Mention a certain flavor and he'd show us all we could ever dream of."

The album opens with "no. 52" a piece full of surprising twists, starting with the shuffle-like bass line, shifting rhythmic patterns and wild interval leaps. With all the twists, the track unfolds like a jazz tune, with a long opening theme followed by improvised passages that return briefly to the theme. On a different tack, "no. 157" is a brief, almost through composed tune built on two overlaying lines that run their course as disjointed counterpoint. All three players get a solo crack at the reoccurring "no. 14," a graphic score featuring a series of geometric shapes. Halvorson's meditative investigation feels like it's tinged with the blues, while Fujiwara leaves plenty of space as he builds tension rolling from his tom to his bass drum, and Formanek strolls insouciantly, like a man enjoying a late afternoon crossing a well-tended park. All three tracks were first takes, and carry Braxton's unmistakable DNA. "With all of Anthony's compositions the identity is so strong," Halvorson says. "You really feel you can go anywhere­-it feels expansive, not limiting. He's setting a really strong energy and intention, but knowing him, you know he wants you to take risks, try things out. He wants us to be creative and explore within the parameters."

If "no. 14" is something of a bagatelle, "no. 68" is an intricate and detailed piece that introduces Fujiwara's vibes into the Thumbscrew mix for the first time. Atmospheric and redolent of shimmering horizons, the piece features the closest thing to a traditional three-part score of any composition they selected "with three lines of music, a top line that was probably for saxophone, a bass part marked with dynamics and arco and pizzicato, and a percussion line," Formanek says. "It's a very composed piece with intricate rhythms and dramatic interval leaps. In the last part we all play a rhythm together and that's the end."

Each piece shines a light on a different facet of Braxton's musical universe. "no. 274" is the only entry from Braxton's Ghost Trance work. Completely notated but requiring constant interpretation, it's built on musical cells with constantly shifting tempos. The point isn't to master the system. "It's about how you deal with music that's almost impossible to play and what happens when you do them with someone else, opening up possibilities you couldn't plan," Formanek says. The shadow of a march falls on "no. 61" a playfully stuttering and surging piece originally written for a saxophone/bass duo. The album closes with a blast of joy with Braxton's homage to the Southwest territory bands of the 1930s. With an irresistible walking bass line and ringing unison notes on guitar and vibes, it's a bright, sunny number "with very specific stylistic references," Formanek says. "The composition notes mentioned playing the way Basie might have played some of this music, with that bounce and feel. The written music really fits in that style, but in a really Braxton way."

Formanek's relationship with Braxton's music dates back to buying a compilation of his Arista Freedom recordings in the mid-1970s. Immediately struck by the music, he tried to decipher the symbols and diagrams that Braxton used as titles. He followed his output over the decades "amazed at the range of music and how much he pushed himself to be creative and indulge all of his curiosities, the way he used the musicians to help realize the vision," Formanek says. But it wasn't until the late 1990s that he had a chance perform with Braxton, joining a multimedia production at the Knitting Factory as the second bassist.

Wesleyan is where Halvorson came into Braxton's orbit during her undergrad years from 1998-2002, a creative relationship that launched her as one of the most celebrated improvisers to emerge in the 21st century. "I consider him one of the main catalysts for me deciding to become a musician," she says. "Studying with Anthony, learning his musical systems and playing music with him remains one of the most important and inspiring musical experiences of my life."

Fujiwara met Braxton through Taylor Ho Bynum when the trumpeter was attending Wesleyan, which led to several opportunities to perform with Braxton in different settings, including a trio with drummer Tom Rainey documented on the 2014 album Trio (New Haven) 2013 (New Braxton House). "Having time to talk and hang out with Anthony, his energy and his whole presence has been very inspiring," Fujiwara says. "Both as a person and a musician he gives this real jolt of energy and creativity and positivity to try things and explore things and push myself." "-Cuneiform Records

"Commitment.

All three members of experimental jazz group Thumbscrew focus on that one reason for their steady, successful work together, most recently for new album "The Anthony Braxton Project." Each member - guitarist Mary Halvorson, percussionist Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Michael Formanek - have stellar careers outside the trio, winning awards and creating highly acclaimed music whether as leaders or in ensembles.

Halvorson received a MacArthur Fellowship (a "genius grant") last year, and she just won her fourth straight DownBeat award for best guitarist. Fujiwara leads several groups, has performed on and off Broadway, and has become ubiquitous in the creative jazz scene. Formanek has succeeded as a sideman, a composer, an educator (notably at the Peabody Conservatory), and a leader of his own. Yet all three have consistently returned to Thumbscrew since its debut self-titled release in 2014.

Depending on your vantage point, Thumbscrew has either become a jazz supergroup or the hub of New York's avant-garde scene.

The members, though, see it differently, explaining that it's a collective, and their shared commitment to each other and to Thumbscrew make it something special. The cooperative nature of the group extends even to interviews - they prefer to each have an equal voice in the way they're presented.

"When other people speak about the group, there can be narratives that don't work for us," explained Fujiwara. "In jazz and improvised music, it's about a leader with a band, and so the idea about this being a collective, a band ... is very important to us."

Both Formanek and Halvorson are quick to make similar points, having found natural musical and personal connections.

"The people and the groups that I've stayed the most connected to are the ones where there's a deep, natural intuitive connection, where you don't have to talk, but where you're able to dive deeper and talk," Formanek said. "For me, this group has all of that going. It's also the only cooperative group that really functions as a cooperative."

Halvorson recalled that everyone clicked very quickly and became equally invested in the work of the group.

"We all are bandleaders on our own, but having this as a vehicle that's sort of become it's own thing is special," she said. "It's developed it's own identity."

Over the past few years, the trio has been fortunate to shape that identity through three residencies at Pittsburgh's City of Asylum, using that unusual amount of time to tighten their playing around complicated pieces. Previously, the group members have brought in their own compositions, the writer somewhat beginning as a leader as the trio collectively shapes the piece.

They're recently taken on a new challenge.

The Tri-Centric Foundation - a nonprofit dedicated to the work and legacy of Anthony Braxton - asked the trio to record an album for Braxton75 in honor of the artist's 75{sup}th{/sup} birthday this past June, focusing on unrecorded, unperformed music.

"I think maybe having done the 'Theirs' CD [of covers] got our feet wet in that process already. Before that, it was our music and there was a leader to get things going," Formanek said. "After doing 'Theirs,' that was in the air, and the suggestion from Tri-Centric came up about being involved in the Braxton75 and just seemed like a natural thing for so many reasons."

One of those reasons was Formanek's personal interest. He has the least history with Braxton of the three, but he "always wanted to take that deeper dive."

"I've always wanted to learn more about his process and all that," he explained. "I was super-excited to go up and look through the archives."

Fujiwara spoke about the inspirational nature of Braxton's idiosyncratic compositions.

"It's supposed to inspire, to trigger personal creativity. That energy that he puts into it [is] very freeing. We felt that energy while interpreting. It felt like we had a certain amount of agency to interpret. Some of the notated stuff is really challenging. The goal is not uptight precision; it generates a certain flow and certain energy. We don't have to wonder if we're doing it wrong. It was very inspiring."

Although each of the musicians has some connection to Braxton, Halvorson has, in Fujiwara's words, " exponentially more experience studying and then playing with him."

To put it simply: " Anthony Braxton is the reason I'm a musician," she said.

Halvorson had gone to Wesleyan University knowing it had a great music program, but intending to study science.

"At some point, I had dropped my science classes and was majoring in music, and that was completely his fault. His enthusiasm and creativity was so infectious," she explained. "Seeing the scope of what he does made me see that music was much bigger than what I thought. He really encouraged that. At the same time, he was very deferential to learning about different music histories, learning about different types of music."

With everyone enthused about the project (and enthusiasm was the dominant mood in talking to all three artists), the musicians set about searching through Tri-Centric's archives for pieces that would work. Nothing was composed for the guitar-bass-drums combination, so the process also would involve working out new arrangements. Like Fujiwara, Halvorson found these compositions to be inspiring.

"I think that's one of the tell-tale signs of a great composer - it doesn't feel restrictive," she said. "What could be seen as a limitation, it feels more like an inspiration than a direction or limitation."

Fujiwara plays vibraphone on the album, a rarity in his recordings. He laughs about it now, admitting that he was late to the initial meeting to look at scores, and his bandmates had picked some selections requiring three melodic instruments, confident that he could handle vibes - an idea he "might have sheepishly vetoed" had he been on time.

Halvorson said that she and Formanek simply thought, "Wait a second; you could play v and then we could do this piece," and thought it fit with Braxton's encouragement of musicians to be multi-instrumentalists.

Even after all this work, Formanek feels like he's "just barely scratching the surface" with Braxton, but part of what gives the project so much meaning is that desire to "connect with it more" even as he "lets it take on more of an organic process."

And that process works extremely well in Thumbscrew, a group that synthesizes each artist's gifts and needs unusually well.

Formanek detailed a little more how that works, saying, "Trust is such an important component, both as being in a group but as improvisers, too - that fine line of letting everybody do exactly what they feel is the appropriate thing to do without necessarily getting pulled completely into their place, either. We're all so respectful of each other's way of doing things. In this particular group, a lot of those things happen more naturally and intuitively. I consider myself really lucky in that way."

With such energy, the artists continue to move forward even as the country takes a pause. Yet another Thumbscrew album (of originals) will be out next year. Each of them pushes forward in rehearsing and composing.

Fujiwara noted the importance of having "motivation even without external opportunities or attention." Halvorson continues her work on studying poetic forms (an indication that, yes, a second Code Girl album is on the way). Formanek reflected gratefully on his time on this album, wishing to add a parting thought, particularly relevant right now.

He wants to take a moment for "the recognition of the people that we have learned from and gotten inspiration from, the Black composers that we've studied or worked with or learned from - Braxton being one of the most important composers in America - but also that we've gotten so much from Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, going back to Duke and Mingus. To say how much we appreciate and have gotten from those musicians can't be overstated."

"-Justin Cober-Lake, Daily Progress