The Squid's Ear Magazine

Braxton, Anthony

GTM (Syntax) 2017 [12 CD BOX SET]

Braxton, Anthony: GTM (Syntax) 2017 [12 CD BOX SET] (New Braxton House)

A 12-hour collection over 12 CDs of composer Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Music (GTM), a compositional system he developed with his superlative Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble, GTM allowing the ensemble to generate a performance in real time in a mix of sung, spoken, and non-verbal utterances, with unpredictable and surprising results that reveal fascinating layers with each listen.
 

Price: $129.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 20.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Anthony Braxton-composer

Adam Matlock-vocals

Anne Rhodes-vocals

Chris DiMeglio-vocals

Elizabeth Saunders-vocals

Kamala Sankaram-vocals

Kristin Fung-vocals

Kyoko Kitamura-vocals

Lucy Deghrae-vocals

Michael Douglas Jones-vocals

Nick Hallett-vocals

Tomas Cruz-vocals

Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble-ensemble


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Limited edition of 300 copies.

UPC: 5902249001358

Label: New Braxton House
Catalog ID: NBH908
Squidco Product Code: 27248

Format: 12 CDs
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: USA
Packaging: Box Set - 12 CDs
Recorded at Scholes Street Studio, in Brooklyn, New York, on January 14th-16th and 21st-23rd, 2017, by Jon Rosenberg.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"A twelve CD box set of Anthony Braxton's complete Syntactical Ghost Trance Music (SGTM) - the subset of Braxton's revolutionary Ghost Trance Music compositional system written especially for the human voice. The recording also introduces the Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble - a twelve member choir featuring some of the most exciting and accomplished singers in creative music.

The recording is available digitally and in a limited edition 300-copy pressing, a deluxe 12-CD box set with a 32-page booklet with extensive liner notes by Braxton and production notes by co-producer and ensemble member Kyoko Kitamura. This is the most complete documentation to date of Braxton's Syntactical Ghost Trance Music System, recorded for the first time in its entirety in a sonically pristine studio setting. Each disc features a complete composition. While SGTM is one of the rare systems in which Braxton neither conducts or performs, the recording was made under the composer's careful guidance.

Calling it "the Rosetta Stone of my music systems", Braxton describes Syntactical Ghost Trance Music as a "creative sonic experience" and "a structural networks of infinite paths and/or directions". The composer has long been fascinated by the potential of the human voice, as evidenced by his massive ongoing Trillium opera cycle. However, SGTM eschews the narrative logics of the operas, instead offering intricate and rhythmically complex written lines with syllables, numbers and words, sometimes sounding like a string of activation codes, sometimes like an alternate language. The performers have an infinite number of real-time choices to make within each composition. From the pulse-driven first species to the graphically-enhanced accelerator class, SGTM and the Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble demonstrate new possibilities for vocal choir music where composition meets improvisation, ensemble members become conductors, and the line between sounds and singing blur to form a sonic tapestry of voices unlike any other.

All of the members of the ensemble have worked extensively with the composer in the past - from duo recordings and small ensembles to the recent recordings of Braxton's operas Trillium E (Wallingford's Polarity Gambit) and Trillium J (The Non-Unconfessionables) - so the performers are deeply fluent in Braxton's unique performance practice and sound world. They also carry an extraordinary body of individual credits and associations, ranging from jazz and improvised music to opera and contemporary classical to popular music and singer-songwriting. The recording is dedicated to ensemble member Michael Douglas Jones, who sadly passed away in the time between this recording and the release. "-New Braxton House


Limited edition of 300 copies.

Artist Biographies

[Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American composer and instrumentalist.]

"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 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. Even at the peak of his renown in the mid- to late '70s, Braxton was a controversial figure amongst musicians and critics. His self-invented (yet heavily theoretical) approach to playing and composing jazz seemed to have as much in common with late 20th century classical music as it did jazz, and therefore alienated those who considered jazz at a full remove from European idioms. Although Braxton exhibited a genuine -- if highly idiosyncratic -- ability to play older forms (influenced especially by saxophonists Warne Marsh, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, and Eric Dolphy), he was never really accepted by the jazz establishment, due to his manifest infatuation with the practices of such non-jazz artists as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Many of the mainstream's most popular musicians (Wynton Marsalis among them) insisted that Braxton's music was not jazz at all. Whatever one calls it, however, there is no questioning the originality of his vision; Anthony Braxton created music of enormous sophistication and passion that was unlike anything else that had come before it. Braxton was able to fuse jazz's visceral components with contemporary classical music's formal and harmonic methods in an utterly unselfconscious -- and therefore convincing -- way. The best of his work is on a level with any art music of the late 20th century, jazz or classical.

Braxton began playing music as a teenager in Chicago, developing an early interest in both jazz and classical musics. He attended the Chicago School of Music from 1959-1963, then Roosevelt University, where he studied philosophy and composition. During this time, he became acquainted with many of his future collaborators, including saxophonists Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell. Braxton entered the service and played saxophone in an Army band; for a time he was stationed in Korea. Upon his discharge in 1966, he returned to Chicago where he joined the nascent Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). The next year, he formed an influential free jazz trio, the Creative Construction Company, with violinist Leroy Jenkins and trumpeter Leo Smith. In 1968, he recorded For Alto, the first-ever recording for solo saxophone. Braxton lived in Paris for a short while beginning in 1969, where he played with a rhythm section comprised of bassist Dave Holland, pianist Chick Corea, and drummer Barry Altschul. Called Circle, the group stayed together for about a year before disbanding (Holland and Altschul would continue to play in Braxton-led groups for the next several years). Braxton moved to New York in 1970. The '70s saw his star rise (in a manner of speaking); he recorded a number of ambitious albums for the major label Arista and performing in various contexts. Braxton maintained a quartet with Altschul, Holland, and a brass player (either trumpeter Kenny Wheeler or trombonist George Lewis) for most of the '70s. During the decade, he also performed with the Italian free improvisation group Musica Elettronica Viva, and guitarist Derek Bailey, as well as his colleagues in AACM. The '80s saw Braxton lose his major-label deal, yet he continued to record and issue albums on independent labels at a dizzying pace. He recorded a memorable series of duets with bop pioneer Max Roach, and made records of standards with pianists Tete Montoliu and Hank Jones. Braxton's steadiest vehicle in the '80s and '90s -- and what is often considered his best group -- was his quartet with pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Mark Dresser, and drummer Gerry Hemingway. In 1985, he began teaching at Mills College in California; he subsequently joined the music faculty at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where he taught through the '90s. During that decade, he received a large grant from the MacArthur Foundation that allowed him to finance some large-scale projects he'd long envisioned, including an opera. At the beginning of the 21st century, Braxton was still a vital presence on the creative music scene."

-All Music, Chris Kelsey (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/anthony-braxton-mn0000924030/biography)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Adam Matlock works as an accordionist, composer, vocalist, and educator living and working in New Haven, CT. Matlock writes songs under the name An Historic, building narratives accompanied by musical inspirations from Balkan music and Klezmer, Soul, and various strains of rock. An Historic exists as a solo project, but is reinforced live and on record with the members of Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps, a folky/jazzy band adding trombone, fiddle, banjo and accordion to the standard rock instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums. He also composes under his own name, most notably the opera Red Giant(2014) for 6 piece ensemble and three singers, and Earthseed Songs (2012) for voice and two instrumentalists. Matlock also began to expand his role as a performer in 2009, playing original music and interpretations with projects including An Historic, Broadcloth, Gzara, and Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps. He has recorded, performed, or improvised with artists including Anthony Braxton, Mario Pavone, Ceschi, Vinny Golia, Sigh, and Clara Engel, and works as a group and private teacher in the New Haven area."

-Neighborhood Music School, New Haven CT (https://nmsnewhaven.org/profile/adam-matlock/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Based in New Haven, CT, Anne Rhodes (b. 1976) performs a broad range of experimental, improvised, and classical music. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Boston University, an M.A. in Experimental Music Performance from Wesleyan University, and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. She has premiered solo, opera, and chamber works by more than thirty composers, and is considered one of the foremost interpreters of the vocal works of Anthony Braxton, with whom she has performed and recorded extensively. Rhodes performs as a member of various ensembles, including Braxton's Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble and Pine Top Aerial Music Sextet; Carl Testa's Sway; and the trio Broadcloth. Her solo project, Red Rainbow, incorporates voice and electronics, looping sounds as diverse as extended techniques and bel canto vocalises to create layer upon layer of dissonance, harmony, and noise. As a composer, she creates unique embroidered graphic scores. She is also the Archivist for Oral History of American Music at Yale University."

-Anne Rhodes Website (http://annerhodes.net/bio/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"A former journalist (Fuji Television Network Japan) with childhood piano training at Juilliard Pre-College and a stint as a Gulf War reporter on her résumé ('90-'91 working in Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia), Kyoko Kitamura is an oddball vocalist, composer and bandleader who has worked with many distinguished musicians including Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Steve Coleman, William Parker and Reggie Workman.

She is a featured vocalist on Anthony Braxton's opera Trillium J (New Braxton House 2015), 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012 (NBH 2014), Trillium E (NBH 2011, the first-ever studio-recording of an Anthony Braxton opera), and the Syntactical GTM Choir (NYC) 2011 (NBH 2012). Also known for her interdisciplinary projects, she released her first solo album Armadillo In Sunset Park in 2012, a collection of songs written for and choreographed by Mark Lamb Dance. She can also be heard on the critically acclaimed Taylor Ho Bynum & SpiderMonkey Strings release Madeleine Dreams (Firehouse 12 Records 2009), Jamie Baum's Solace (Sunnyside Records 2008), and Steve Coleman's Lucidarium (Label Bleu 2004) among others.

She currently works with Anthony Braxton as a vocalist in his Tri-Centric Orchestra and as the Director of Communications for his Tri-Centric Foundation. She studies counterpoint and Schoenberg harmony with Paul Caputo.

As for her own current projects, she leads Tidepool Fauna (Ingrid Laubrock on sax, Ken Filiano on bass) and co-leads Armadillo In Sunset Park (collaborative project with dancers of Mark Lamb Dance).

Kitamura has garnered critical praise for her "great vocal range, veering from wordless vocalese to near operatic feats" (AllAboutJazz) and All Music Guide describes her as "an expressive vocalist who knows how to be quirky and eccentric but is also quite musical." Most recently, in a performance with the Anthony Braxton Trio at the Angel City Jazz Festival in L.A. (Anthony Braxton, Taylor Ho Bynum, Kyoko Kitamura), Robert Bush of AllAboutJazz wrote, "Enough cannot be said about the stunning abilities of Ms. Kitamura-she functions at the highest instrumental level and was able to deal with pages of dense notation, acrobatic intervals and intricate layering with devastating surety." "

-Kyoko Kitamura Website (http://www.kyokokitamura.com/biography/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



CD1



1. Composition No. 192 54:21

CD2



1. Composition No. 219 51:48

CD3



1. Composition No. 220 55:50

CD4



1. Composition No. 221 58:39

CD5



1. Composition No. 239 57:54

CD6



1. Composition No. 254 57:23

CD7



1. Composition No. 255 54:38

CD8



1. Composition No. 256 58:44

CD9



1. Composition No. 265 57:28

CD10



1. Composition No. 339 56:44

CD11



1. Composition No. 340 57:39

CD12



1. Composition No. 341 54:13

Related Categories of Interest:


Box Sets
Improvised Music
Compositional Forms
Unusual Vocal Forms
Large Ensembles
Anthony Braxton
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
New Braxton House.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Fonda, Joe (Fonda / Braxton / Bufalino / Dodd / Robertson / Alexiev)
From The Source
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
A unique 1995 studio album from bassist Joe Fonda, remastered reissued to bring to life this septet with Anthony Braxton on reeds & winds, Herb Robertson on trumpet, Grisha Alexiev on drums, Vickie Dodds on vocals, and integrating tap dancer Brenda Bufalino as a full percussive voice into the ensemble's unique merging of jazz and dance, and of the healing arts and the performing arts.
Kitamura / Ho Bynum / Reid / Morris
Geometry of Trees
(Relative Pitch)
The Geometry quartet of Tomeka Reid on cello, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Kyoko Kitamura on voice, and Joe Morris on guitar in their sophomore release of subtly ferocious acoustic improvisation, acute and obtuse angularity through both highly interactive playing and spacious sprawls that merge melody and pointillist styles, expanded through Kitamura's imagistic vocals; outstanding.
Braxton, Anthony
12 Duets (DCWM) 2012 [12 CD Box Set]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: A 12-CD set presenting Braxton in dialogue with three distinctive duet partners: violinist Erica Dicker, vocalist Kyoko Kitamura and bassoonist Katherine Young, recorded in the summer of 2012 over two sessions with each player, a remarkable and expansive set of innovative and creative improvisation.
Laubrock, Ingrid
Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Music For Chamber Orchestra And Small Ensemble) [2 CDs]
(Intakt)
The 2nd orchestral album from saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, two very different but complementary sets of compositions using electronics in mostly acoustic settings: the 1st with the larger EOS Chamber Orchestra and guests including Cory Smythe, Tom Rainey, & Sam Pluta; the 2nd a smaller group of Laubrock, Smythe & Pluta + guests Adam Motlock, Josh Modney, and Zeena Parkins.
Testa, Carl
Sway Prototypes - Volume 3
(Sway)
The third volume of NY bassist, composer, and electronic/computer musician Carl Testa's amazing Sway project, giving an interactive electronic processor its own voice interfacing with any size ensemble, here with two new works--one for quintet among a set of Chicago improvisers, the other in Portland, Maine with a sextet--each uniquely voiced and excitingly unpredictable.
Reid, Tomeka / Kyoko Kitamura / Tyler Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry Of Distance
(Relative Pitch)
Following their debut album, "Geometry of Caves", the quartet of improvising musicians Joe Morris (guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Kyoko Kitamura (voice) return for this album of passionate free improvisation, here even more attuned as a group as they employ their collective language using unusual technique and incredible expertise; spectacular!
Testa, Carl
Sway Prototypes - Volume 2
(Sway)
2nd volume of bassist Carl Testa's Sway electroacoustic interactive software, taking the individual playing of Erica Dicker on violin, Junko Fujiwara on cello, Louis Guarino Jr. on trumpet, Andria Nicodemou on vibraphone, Carl Testa on bass & electronics, and Anne Rhodes on voice, Testa's software generating responses that push and pull the musician in unique directions.
Reid, Tomeka / Kyoko Kitamura / Taylor Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry of Caves
(Relative Pitch)
Bringing New York and Chicago performers together, the quartet of cellist Tomeka Reid, guitarist Joe Morris, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and free vocalist Kyoko Kitamura present an album of expressive and creative collective improvisation, bridging chamber forms and free jazz with a captivatingly eccentric appeal from Kitamura's wordless vocalese.
Braxton, Anthony
Solo (Victoriaville) 2017
(Les Disques Victo)
On the 30th anniversary of the Victo Festival Anthony Braxton took to the stage for a magnificent solo performance on the alto sax, performing 8 spontaneous compositions and an 8+ minute version of "Body and Soul", seamlessly crossing lyrical and complex approaches to the horn using his unique intervallic, trimbral and diagrammatic language, a stunning and embraceable accomplishment.
Braxton, Anthony
Trillium J [4 CDs + Blu Ray]
(Braxton House/Firehouse 12 Records)
A multimedia box set of Anthony Braxton's opera work "Trillium J", containing live performance video on Blu-ray disc of a 2014 performance at Roulette in NY, and studio recording on 4-CD set, with 12 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists and a full orchestra.
Braxton, Anthony
Trillium J [4 CDs + Blu Ray]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: A multimedia box set of Anthony Braxton's opera work "Trillium J", containing live performance video on Blu-ray disc of a 2014 performance at Roulette in NY, and studio recording on 4-CD set, with 12 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists and a full orchestra.
Braxton, Anthony
Quintet (Tristano) 2014 [7 CDs]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: Composer and jazz master Anthony Braxton performing on piano in a septet with saxophonists Jackson Moore and Andre Vida, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Mike Szekely, exploring the compositions of Lennie Tristano plus peers Billy Bauer, Connie Crothers, Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, &c.
Braxton, Anthony & Taylor Ho Bynum
Duo (Amherst) 2010 [DVD]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: Limited edition DVD plus audio files of two extended sets bringing saxophonist Anthony Braxton and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum together live at Bezanson Recital Hall in Amherst, MA in 2010, performing compositions by both artists.
Braxton, Anthony Steptet (with Ho Bynum / Halvorson / Pavone / Rozen / Siegel / Testa)
Echo Echo Mirror House
(Les Disques Victo)
Composer/saxophonist Braxton performed "Composition NO 347 + 62'37" " at the 2011 Victo Festival with the "super-group" of Braxton alumni - Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, Jessica Pavone, Jay Rozen, Aaron Siegel, Carl Testa", on their respective instruments + iPods.
Braxton, Anthony and the Tri-Centric Orchestra
Trillium E [4 CDs]
(New Braxton House)
Newly Distributed in 2021: Trillium E is the first-ever studio recording of an Anthony Braxton opera, a deluxe 4-disc set of this surreal and witty installment in Braxton's ongoing Trillium cycle, and includes a booklet with libretto, photos, and critical essays.
Braxton, Anthony / Morris, Joe
4 Improvisations (Duets) 2007
(Clean Feed)
Clean Feed's 100th release is a 4-disc set of multi-reedist Anthony Braxton and guitarist Joe Morris, two masters playing completely improvised pieces.
Braxton, Anthony
12+1tet (Victoriaville) 2007
(Les Disques Victo)
Braxton's Composition 361 is a staggeringly detailed 70 minute tour-de-force for his 12-tet, a work of shifting layers, counter-structures, quiet tensions and scorching explosions.
Braxton, Anthony
Trio (Victoriaville) 2007
(Les Disques Victo)
Braxton's Diamond Curtain Wall Trio with Mary Halvorson and Taylor Ho Bynum live using laptop and interactive electronics at the 24th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville.
Braxton, Anthony / Fonda, Joe
Duets 1995
(Clean Feed)
Braxton, Anthony / Frith, Fred
Duo (Victoriaville) 2005
(Les Disques Victo)
Braxton, Anthony Sextet
(Victoriaville) 2005
(Les Disques Victo)
Smith, Wadada Leo / Anthony Braxton
Saturn, Conjunct the Grand Canyon in a Sweet Embrace
(Pi Recordings)
Andel, Laura
Somnambulist
(Red Toucan)
Braxton, Anthony / Derek Bailey
Moment Precieux
(Les Disques Victo)
American and London artists Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey performing as a duo at The Victoriaville Festival in 1986, an amazing exchange between two noted masters of free improvisation.
Braxton, Anthony Quartet
(Victoriaville) 1992
(Les Disques Victo)
Compositions 159, 148, 161, 158 and John Coltrane's "Impressions", performed with Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
Feldman / Rempis / Daisy
SIROCCO
(Aerophonic)
Welcoming third improvisers into the long-standing duo, Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Tim Daisy invite New York/Chicago violinist Mark Feldman to perform at Elastic Arts, in Chicago, heard in two extended improvisations, superb examples of masterful technique and profound dialog.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC