Recorded in two sessions in the fractious spring of 1968, Anthony Braxton's debut album as a leader has, on the surface, little in common with the fierce political and racial strife that was exploding across North America--not least in Braxton's hometown of Chicago--and Europe at the time. This is not angry music, and the philosophically oriented Braxton never lapsed into mere rhetoric. Yet THREE COMPOSITIONS OF NEW JAZZ is very much an album of its time. Saxophonist and composer Braxton, a founding member of the stalwart Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), the cerebral Chicago-based answer to New York's explosive free-jazz scene, created three challenging compositions. The first two of them are titled with the inscrutable mathematical equations that would quickly become his trademark, while the third, "The Bell," seemingly intentionally recalls Albert Ayler's similarly named improvisation from 1965. Almost completely lacking in traditional rhythm and melody, the three pieces for sax, trumpet, piano, and violin nonetheless sound "composed" in a way that many similar free jazz blowouts do not.
Professional Reviews
Option (1-2/92) - Recommended - "...twenty-three years later this is still "difficult" music, interesting in its dynamics and technique. Yet it is also a lyrical music...in its sparseness, [the music] benefits from the remix of the original tapes. This is historic and crucial."
