Friday, April 30, 2010

Anthony Braxtons 65th anniversary

Although Anthony Braxton isn't my favourite musician, this might be of interest to some of you :

The Tri-Centric Foundation, and co-producers Darmstadt Institute, are proud to announce "Tri-Centric Modeling: Past, Present and Future," a two night, multiple venue concert event celebrating the legacy of venerable saxophonist/composer/educator Anthony Braxton in honor of his 65th birthday. 

On Friday, June 18th at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York and Saturday, June 19th at the ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, dozens of prominent musicians, including Braxton himself, will take the stage to participate in exclusive collaborations and one-of-a-kind performances to benefit the Tri-Centric Foundation, a newly revived not-for-profit organization dedicated to realizing Braxton's most ambitious projects and inspiring younger generations of creative artists. 

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., Friday night at (Le) Poisson Rouge will feature performances by Steve Coleman & Jonathan Finlayson, Marilyn Crispell/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway, Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings, Richard Teitelbaum, Matthew Welch, John Zorn/Dave Douglas/Brad Jones/Gerry Hemingway and other special guests.  The headline act will be the Anthony Braxton 12+1tet, which has not performed in New York since its historic four-night run at Iridium Jazz Club in March 2006 (documented on the renowned 9 CD + 1 DVD box set, 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006, on Firehouse 12 Records).  Advance tickets are available online for $35.  Any remaining tickets will be available the day of the show for $45.

Also beginning at 5:30 p.m., Saturday night at ISSUE Project Room will highlight a younger generation of musicians that has studied and performed with Braxton in recent years and adapted his concepts into their own distinctive sounds.  The line-up includes Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Chris Jonas & James Fei and Tyshawn Sorey, as well as others yet to be announced.  The night will begin and end with Braxton conducting live excerpts from his four-act opera, Trillium E, featuring members of the 60 person cast from its first-ever studio recording in March.  Advance tickets are available online for $25 ($20 for students).  Any remaining tickets will be available the day of the show for $30. 

About Anthony Braxton

I know I'm an African-American, and I know I play the saxophone, but I'm not a jazz musician.  I'm not a classical musician, either.  My music is like my life: It's in between these areas. 

Anthony Braxton (b. June 4, 1945) has boldly redefined the boundaries of American music for more than 40 years.  Drawing on such lifelong influences as jazz saxophonists Warne Marsh and Albert Ayler, innovative American composers John Cage and Charles Ives and pioneering European Avant-Garde figures Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis, he created a unique musical system, with its own classifications and graphics-based language, that embraces a variety of traditions and genres while defying categorization of its own. 

His multi-faceted career includes hundreds of recordings, performances all over the world with fellow legends and younger musicians alike, an influential legacy as an educator and author of scholarly writings, and an ardent international fan base that passionately supports and documents it all.  From his early work as a pioneering solo performer in the late 1960's through his eclectic experiments on Arista Records in the 1970's, his landmark quartet of the 1980s, and more recent endeavors, such as his cycle of Trillium operas, a piece for 100 tubas and the day-long, installation-based Sonic Genome Project, his vast body of work is unparalleled.

Critics have called him "an obvious genius" (Scott Yanow, AllMusic.com), "an unprecedented figure in the music" (Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia), "quite possibly the most prolific musician of our age" (David R. Adler, JazzTimes) and "a brilliant musician who is constantly pushing himself and the musicians with whom he surrounds himself" (Michael Rosenstein, Signal to Noise).  Time Out New York's Hank Shteamer adds, "Even if you ignore his purely conceptual triumphs, Braxton has amassed one of the meatiest and most varied bodies of work in experimental music."  Learn more at http://anthonybraxton.wordpress.com

About The Tri-Centric Foundation

The Tri-Centric Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports the ongoing work and legacy of eminent musician/composer Anthony Braxton, while also cultivating and inspiring the next generation of creative artists to pursue their own visions with the kind of idealism and integrity he has demonstrated throughout his long and distinguished career. 

Specifically, it encourages broad dissemination of Braxton’s music through creation of, and support for, performances, productions, recordings and other new media technologies.  It also documents, archives, preserves and disseminates Braxton’s scores, writings, performances and recordings and advocates for a broader audience, appreciation, funding and support base for Braxton’s work. 

Through its new Web site, coming mid-2010, the Tri-Centric Foundation will provide one-stop access to Braxton's writings, a variety of interactive sound and video components and exclusive digital-only recordings of past live performances and archival studio releases.  In the meantime, donations can be made online through PayPal at http://bit.ly/cfLLun

About Darmstadt Institute

Darmstadt Institute is a month-long festival of experimental music at ISSUE Project Room curated by Nick Hallett and Zach Layton, connecting the live performance of works by emerging and established composers to discourse and pedagogy about relevant topics, creating dynamic and educational events for practitioners and audiences alike.  Lectures, film screenings, workshops, and panels are presented alongside premieres of new compositions, in addition to bold interpretations of cherished works from the avant-garde canon played by New York city's leading musicians and ensembles.  Learn more at http://www.darmstadtnewmusic.org

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