"I think he exemplifies the spirit Charlie Parker had - the fact that he dares to do something different, to try another direction." (Max Roach discussing Anthony Braxton)
On March 2nd, 2018, the Tri-Centric Foundation and New Braxton House Records will release Anthony Braxton's "Sextet (Parker) 1993" - an epic 11-CD deluxe box set meticulously documenting Braxton's now legendary European tour performing music composed by and associated with Charlie Parker. As Stuart Broomer writes in his extensive liner essay, "we've come across a signal here in which two of the greatest minds of African-American music have somehow crossed their signals, crossed and combined, fused, modulated, and combined with others."
Widely revered as one of the most original composers and conceptualists of the past fifty years, Anthony Braxton has also pursued his own idiosyncratic path through the jazz repertoire throughout his career - from his 1974 recording "What's New in the Tradition" to his seven-album tribute to Lennie Tristano, "Quintet (Tristano) 2014". This Charlie Parker project stands as the centerpiece of that journey, a body of music that simultaneously acknowledges, expands, and explodes the bebop tradition, re-radicalizing Parker's musical revolution.
Braxton is joined by an extraordinary band well-versed in both the jazz tradition and creative music practice: pioneering Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg, the undersung trumpet master Paul Smoker, Chicago tenor sax stalwart Ari Brown, the rock-solid bassist Joe Fonda, and the volcanic drummer Pheeroan akLaff. (Another Dutch jazz innovator, drummer Han Bennink, substitutes for akLaff on one disc). Representing multiple communities, styles, and generations, the interplay between the performers is sublime. Each musician is pushed to the height of their skills and rises to the challenge in this one-time only meeting - never again would this group assemble. (With the recent passing of Smoker and Mengelberg, the set also serves as a worthy tribute to their brilliance.)
Near the 25th anniversary of the original recordings, this reissue massively expands upon the original two-disc set released in 1995 by Hathut Records under the title "Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project 1993." The deluxe 11-CD box set, with a 26-page booklet including Broomer's insightful essay and rare historical photographs, will be solely available in a limited-edition run of 500 copies. (The music will also be available for streaming or digital download via Bandcamp.) As Broomer writes, "The music satisfies a special need, engendered by jazz as history and idea, for simultaneous movements in time, both forwards and back, these ecstatic arcs in time that link these musicians and this art in a thousand ways, the ways in which this music never sounds contrived, the way it shares with us its own expansive space."
1. Confirmation 10:27
2. Quasimodo 10:33
3. Don't Blame Me 12:05
4. Repetition 05:06
5. Klactoveedsedstene 06:44
6. Relaxin' At Camarillo 15:39
7. Darn That Dream 11:49
8. Hot House 14:06
9. Laura 08:43
10. Scrapple From The Apple 05:18
11. Bebop 17:06
12. Charlie's Wig 06:51
13. Klactoveedsedstene 06:49
14. Autumn In New York 09:10
15. Parker Melodies 34:47
16. Yardbird Suite 09:25
17. Ari/Misha Duo 01:48
18. Charlie's Wig 06:36
19. Klactoveedsedstene 06:51
20. A Night In Tunisia 08:30
21. Another Hair-Do 10:37
22. Sippin' At Bell's 04:10
23. An Oscar For Treadwell 09:00
24. Bongo Bop 07:14
25. Blues For Alice 11:13
26. Dewey Square 15:33
27. Mohawk 03:34
28. Repetition 04:17
29. An Oscar For Treadwell 07:56
30. A Night In Tunisia 06:23
31. Quasimodo 10:01
32. Cardboard 08:16
33. Koko 07:30
34. Milestones 07:47
35. Hot House 12:52
36. Klactoveedsedstene 07:07
37. Yardbird Suite 08:10
38. Passport 06:20
39. Repetition 04:20
40. A Night In Tunisia 06:22
41. Hot House 15:51
42. A Night In Tunisia 08:59
43. An Oscar For Treadwell 19:22
44. Dewey Square 12:25
45. Repetition 05:11
46. Klactoveedsedstene 10:49
47. Hot House 15:18
48. Another Hair-Do 16:26
49. April In Paris 04:59
50. An Oscar For Treadwell 28:32
51. Repetition 05:12
52. Don't Blame Me 10:37
53. Confirmation 13:03
54. A Night In Tunisia 11:41
55. Dewey Square 14:52
56. Klactoveedsedstene 05:34
57. Darn That Dream 12:05
58. Autumn In New York 07:56
59. Sippin' At Bell's 05:35
60. Bebop 08:25
61. Another Hair-Do 10:32
62. Koko 07:13
63. Repetition 05:03
64. Cardboard 10:10
65. Blues For Alice 10:34
66. Confirmation 10:12
67. Don't Blame Me 13:05
68. Cheryl 09:39
Released March 2, 2018
Ari Brown - tenor and soprano saxophone
Paul Smoker - trumpet, flugelhorn
Misha Mengelberg - piano
Joe Fonda - bass
Pheeroan akLaff - drums (all tracks expect 41-46)
Han Bennink - drums (tracks 41-46 only)
