Rara avis: Comp. 40c

 

I'm pleased to say that I recently got back in touch with Alexander Hawkins. In the years since I lost touch with him, the British pianist-composer-bandleader has undergone metamorphosis, from a very promising and distinctive voice on the British creative music scene, to his present status as a world-class improviser and composer, much in demand, who performs all around the globe and issues recordings regularly via the prestigious Swiss label, Intakt Records.

Most recently mentioned in these pages as an integral part of B's "standards quartet" - who played many concerts together, from which the gigantic Quartet (Standards) 2020 box set was compiled - AH first came to my attention as an interpreter of B's music, and I'm delighted to report that he continues to work pieces from the Braxton canon into his live sets (though he has never yet done an album of this stuff... hint hint!). Our most recent exchange revealed that AH is particularly fascinated of late by Comp. 40c. For the benefit of those readers who may not have large sections of the discography committed to memory, I'd better point out that 40c is one of those (almost) unrecorded pieces from the old days; details will follow below of what precisely is meant by the gloss "almost" in that context, but in the meantime, don't waste time looking for the album which contains a straight reading of this one... because there aren't any. Described in the catalog(ue) of works as a "Madrigal-like slow pulse structure", the piece was basically unknown to this writer: having tantalised me with it, AH was then good enough to point me in the direction of a video of him playing it. 

The occasion was the 2021 MONOPIANO festival in Stockholm - other videos are available, as a brisk internet search will reveal - and this performance was given on 23rd October. AH had decided beforehand that he would open proceedings with 40c: his solo sets often see him running his own works into each other*, and it didn't feel right to him to work one of B's pieces into the middle of such a process**, so once the decision was taken to include this composition, the natural thing to do was play it first. With some simple, but highly effective, preparation of the piano by way of (what I'm told are nothing more than) "strongish" fridge magnets applied to the strings spanning an octave or so, 40c proves to be an ideal way for the pianist to kick things off, allowing him to showcase many of his numerous strengths while giving an outing to an overlooked work. Beginning with an ominous emphasis on the sustain pedal, the first few minutes set up what will become the key elements of the reading: altissimo sprinkles in the right hand alternating with that same hand reaching across at regular intervals to set up powerful floor-tones in the bass, while the left hand cycles away within the "prepared" section of the keyboard, working up an effect both rhythmic and timbral without being precisely tonal, all the tonality being produced by the activity of the right hand. Around 3:30, the written melody starts up, a simple high-register figure played rubato against the tumbling, spidery left-hand scribbles on the weighted strings. The overall effect of this is quite spellbinding. 

Whatever the written score might include, AH's studied reading strips away almost all of what might have been the more "normal" elements of the work, creating something entirely individual and unpredictable, devoid of the routine, melding what "should" be paradoxical elements - the almost-purely rhythmic left-hand, the chiming melody at the top end, and the dramatic splashes of dark colour in the bass register - into a hauntingly-beautiful confection which the pianist has made very much his own. It's a piece which AH has played regularly at his solo concerts in recent years, including once with B. himself in the audience. (Just imagine how delighted the maestro must have been with that!)

Just after ten minutes comes up on the clock, the magnets are removed and the piece gradually winds down, with a new tune altogether starting up around 11:23. This is a well-filmed performance, in which the multiple cameras and judicious visual editing allow us to witness (almost) all aspects of the pianist's art and craft: the hands, the body movement, the intense concentration and emotional involvement - and the spontaneity, a sense captured at times of the performer as his own first listener, pleasantly surprised by what emerges from the keyboard, a fraction before the quickest and most attentive members of the audience. The whole set is well worth watching and hearing; piano is still not my "main instrument" and I make no pretence of being able to comprehend much of the modern music which is written for it, but performances like this could yet convert me... there is a sustained level of creative invention and a refusal to settle for easy choices at any point, even when the music seems locked into rhythmic vamps which could remind the listener of someone or other - I know from previous exchanges that AH is fascinated by the implications and possibilities of rhythmic variation, but this is the point: even when in principle the music comes close to what might feel familiar, it always sounds sui generis, not really like anything one would hear from anyone else. 

***

Comp. 40c has never been recorded on its own: the only recording (featuring B. himself) which even includes it as (listed) tertiary material is the ambitious "West Coast return engagement" Nine Compositions (DVD) 2003, where 40c makes an appearance as one of seven different tertiaries worked into the 85-minute opening GTM number***. Besides this, Restructures formerly listed just one other instance of the piece: the obscure 1997 album Circuit Breaker, by (Ben Opie's band#) Water Shed 5tet, included a medley of two recorded premieres, Comp. 23i (+ 40c), 23i being another very rare piece ("Medium fast line - Spanish melody") which, indeed, only appears on this album (to my knowledge). So I really can't speak for that one at all, but as for 40c..? Alex has observed to me that "this composition could very clearly be considered an iteration of the 'diatonic line forming' from the language music" - language type 10, according to the formal list - and it may very well be the case that pieces like this, composed as they were at a time when the idea of language types was still somewhat inchoate in the composer's mind, helped lead to the crystallisation of such concepts. AH says, by the way, that he's sure he has heard 40c worked into a GTM performance at some point; now that I would hope to recognise it, I will be keeping an ear out for it, for sure!

(Of course, it's not for me to suggest that Mr Hawkins commit one of his readings to posterity in the recording studio; but wouldn't that be a nice treat? He probably understands the piece better than anybody else alive, at this point...)

***

I seem to be in one of "those" phases just now, when I have several posts taking shape in my head and vying with each other to get out onto the screen, but none of them quite wants to be first. Still, given my renewed activity over the last twenty months I am not overly worried by this: it'll sort itself out. In the meantime, this seemed to be the perfect pretext for breaking a two-week "silence".

* Collaging, one might call that...  ;-)

** I think I understand what AH means by this, but at the same time I am pretty sure the maestro would say he's being too diffident about it. Perhaps in the fullness of time these solo sets will evolve to the point where interpolating one of B's themes into the middle of something else feels entirely natural - I suspect B. himself would love that. (On the other hand, when it comes to unveiling a rarity such as 40c, it does seem only right to allow the piece its own space and air.)

*** I do own this (six-hour) monster release, and have heard everything on it at least once - but not for a few years, and I certainly would not have been able to identify 40c even if I had been specifically listening out for it, not having heard it before. (At the moment I don't even have anything to play this disc on, although that regrettable state of affairs will not be permanent...)

# I don't own this one; and given that it's clearly super-obscure and hard to find, I am maybe not likely to - though of course I would be extremely interested to hear it, at least for this track. (Annoyingly, the band's first CD - on Gino Robair's Rastascan label - is far more easily obtainable and not at all expensive. It features nothing by the maestro, alas...) Ben Opie, a saxophonist from Pennsylvania whose own collaborations with B. were a decade in the future at this point, is one of the duet partners I wrote about last October. He was also the driving force behind another project which is even harder to acquire, Ensemble (Pittsburgh) 2008 - an album I may never even lay eyes on, being realistic about it...

New release!

 

While I've been waiting (not necessarily very) patiently for confirmation that the Czech 4-cd box set Four Compositions (Wesleyan) 2013 is available outside Eastern Europe - and if so, at a less-than-exorbitant price - I managed to miss something rather larger and more comprehensive. But not by much: 10 Comp (Lorraine) 2022 only came out late last month, by the look of it. (It's not yet listed on Discogs, at the time of writing.) I know McClintic Sphere has been awaiting this one with interest: the album's existence was confirmed by TCF some little while ago, but there have been no discernible updates about when it was due for eventual release. 

Both of us had wondered about how the new(ish) Lorraine system differs from Diamond Curtain Wall Music, and whether the two can readily be told apart, just by listening. So far, I would have to say that the answers are: I still don't know, and no they can't. But then, the Bandcamp page does not provide the maestro's liner notes, or any portion thereof; and of course, it might be the case that even if it did, and even if I read all of them, I still would not be able to explicate the newer strategy clearly to anybody else. Without so much as a glance at them, I really have to withhold judgement there. In the meantime, given that both systems entail the use of electronics, in the form of interactive computer software... I would be lying if I said that I understand what makes the use of said software here distinct from its use in the many recordings under the DCWM banner. 

Does that matter, really? Probably not: it's definitely not the most important takeaway from this fascinating new release. As always with B's music, and especially with his new music, the main thing is just to listen to it and luxuriate in it.

I only found about this new album's existence today, and I have only had a chance to listen to a little of it so far. The first six discs comprise live recordings from performances given in continental Europe during October and November 2021, by the Lorraine Trio: B. himself with Adam Matlock on accordion and (wordless) vocals and Susana Santos Silva on trumpet*. I have heard the first piece, Comp. 423, recorded October 8th in Riga. Discs 7-10, meanwhile, were recorded in the studio in New Haven, CT** on May 18th and 19th 2022: here, the format was a sort of "double duo", consisting of B. and James Fei on reeds, plus Zach Rowden and Carl Testa on contrabass. (Fei was, of course, the playing partner for the only previous Lorraine release.) I am listening to disc eight, Comp. 433, as I write this. 

In both cases the groups list the maestro as playing saxophones and electronics, by the way - but I don't think that is much of a clue to anything. It might be taken as indicative of B's being directly in control of the software on these recordings, which might seem like a new development, if one worked on the assumption that in DCWM, the software simply "runs itself" rather than being directly under anyone's control - but I am pretty sure that is not correct (and although I can't quite be arsed to check this at the moment, it may very well be the case that at least some of the DCWM albums do, in fact, credit the leader with the electronics, as well as reeds).

It does sound new - and then again it doesn't. No, I can't say for sure that I am hearing things in this music which are completely, qualitatively different from what I have heard before. But I can say for sure that it sounds fresh and invigorating, for various reasons. The trio has interesting instrumentation, and Matlock's vocals are intriguing (and decidedly non-jazzy)***. Parts of the one piece I've heard did sound quite new to me - in a way which I would admittedly struggle to articulate. The quartet of course has very interesting instrumentation, and the two basses create some really rich textures. I may be no nearer to nailing down what it is which makes the use of electronics here different from previous performances (whether DCWM or otherwise), but I'm going to let that go# - for now! It's really interesting and stimulating music to listen to. It does not have the same utter strangeness of the ZIM pieces, necessarily; this sounds at least a bit more familiar. On the other hand, B's playing still betrays clear and undeniable evidence of continued learning and improvement - the true embodiment of the term gongfu in its original sense## -  and that alone makes this seriously rewarding music for the serious friendly experiencer. Besides - I've only heard one fifth of the music, so far; who's to say that something entirely fresh and new might not blow me away when I listen to some of the other pieces, in due course?

I am fighting the temptation to order the box set in physical form, right away; I can't quite justify the expense right now, but also, shipping from the US - besides being very pricey - would take a long time under current circumstances (the good old days, when a package from America would reach the UK in a week at most, are long gone) and I would only be sentencing myself to weeks of increasing anxiety, waiting for the bloody thing to turn up. But I really want to buy this!! I don't yet have any of the recent "megaboxes" in physical form, and the idea of making this the first is... nope, I'm resisting. (Dammit...)

I didn't (consciously) realise this until just before posting, but the picture I used above was taken on March 29th 2024 - the same day that this album was released. { {{{@@@}}} }

* The trumpeter was part of the new quartet which I missed seeing at the London Jazz Festival in 2022 - though I had (finally) resumed posting by then, I was still so completely out of touch that I had no idea the concert was taking place and had nobody to tell me. (So it goes... I have made peace with it - among other things.) She is also part of the Ictus roster (although she was not involved in the event which I wrote about in February). "Utility player" Matlock was much involved in the ZIM groups, but also participated in the Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble (the SGTM choir, so to speak).

** Presumably at Firehouse 12, though the Bandcamp credits don't specify that.

*** The preverbal vocals here reminded this listener of Mike Patton (especially his work in John Zorn's Moonchild group(s) - other people would doubtless hear more of a link to Phil Minton, or someone like that. It's hardly a secret that "jazz vocals" are not my thing, even of the way-out variety... I have heard bits and pieces...

# This goes somewhat against the grain, as I really do try to make sense of this stuff. But I have my limits, as I keep saying, and sometimes all I can do is accept them... for now..!

## As I understand it, the term which came into English as "kung fu" has nothing inherently to do with martial arts - and ended up being used that way via a route much influenced by Cantonese idiom (and romanisation). A gardener or carpenter might just easily evince gongfu as a tai chi master or Shaolin boxer; the term refers to growth and development through dedicated work over time. The AACM legends are, of course, stellar examples of this.

Boot frenzy

Quite often, when I take a break from work for a few days, it gives me the opportunity to catch up on some writing... but that did not turn out to be the case over Easter, when I was with my family and mainly visiting relatives, and any sense of normal routine went right out the window. Never mind: this would have been the next post anyway, it just arrives a little later than it might have done...

Following last time's return to Montreux, I found myself briefly immersed in three other live dates by this same version of the working group, all of which were released* by TCF under the aegis of "official bootlegs". Technically, the one which kickstarted this - BL014, Quintet (New York) 1975 - features an augmented version of the group, with special guest Richard Teitelbaum on synth; but it's the same core quartet at heart. The reason I started with that one is because it contains another reading of Comp. 40n, and I was even (originally) toying with the idea of making a direct comparison.... but in the end it didn't really seem to offer much scope for that.

Not a lot of detail this time, then: it's more just a question of trying to ask some questions - as regards the (published) track listings - and then answer them... with perhaps just a little bit of listening analysis along the way.

***

The second date, eventually released as BL004, Quartet (Bremen) 1975, was already in circulation among collectors - and had made its way to the blogosphere by spring 2009, so that I ended up writing about it at some length. Having done that back then, I am not inclined to say much about it now, and indeed the main reason I dug it out just recently was because I had noticed the inclusion of Comp. 23f, the "broken time accents" experiment which I had completely forgotten about. The only previous official release containing this number was the Ring Records double album At Moers Festival, a real rarity which had not overly impressed me during its Braxtothon session; perhaps that is why I forgot all about poor old 23f, or maybe it was just the fact that it vanished pretty quickly from the live book, and the impetus behind revisiting the Bremen concert on this occasion was to verify that it is indeed this piece which was played there. As it turns out, it's only a (very) partial recording anyway, which was a bit of a let-down after all that; but yes, it was indeed 23f which followed the far better known trio of 23a, 23c and 23b. In order to make that identification, I had first had to play the version from the Moers concert, which reminded me of why this piece never really caught on: the written theme has a similar line to various others written around this time or slightly later, and although the "broken accents" angle is interesting, it didn't ultimately have the legs of its "first cousin", Comp. 23g, whose "accent shifts" laid the groundwork for the pulse track, a much more fertile idea.

Heretical though it might sound, I didn't quite fancy sitting through the aforementioned "better known trio" this time**; however, I did play the rest of the show, which again comprised material familiar to anyone who might be reading this. Comp. 23d sounds dangerously pedestrian here, at least at first, but it does catch fire with lively, bright solos from B. and Wheeler. Comp. 23e, very close to being perfected at this point, has a terrific buildup and was probably the highlight of the date; I have to say "probably" since I failed to relisten to the whole thing this time, but the playing from all four musicians on this number really is uniformly excellent, and it's hard to imagine how anything would have topped it. If it was still slightly missing the magical "moment of transition" as captured in the studio a few weeks later, that's fine too, because for me that studio recording will always be the best version of this fascinating piece, and indeed one of the best performances by this iteration of the group. Parts of this live reading can still make your hair stand on end if you pay attention to it... and if it wanders a little in its second half, that is a feature common to all versions of the piece, including the studio recording. From around 17 minutes the band is clearly thinking towards the next (last?) number, Comp. 40(o), which nonetheless does not actually begin properly for several more minutes; again, this is very strong, but again it's lopped off, although in this case it can only be the very ending which is missing. 

***

The earliest date of the three - BL003, Quartet (Avignon) 1974 - is represented only by two numbers, or at least that is what the published track list reckons; again, I felt compelled to check that out at this juncture. I mean, first things first, that can't be a thirty-five minute reading of Comp. 6i, can it? As for Comp. 6L... that seemed unlikely, especially with no pianist in the band. Confirmation was definitely going to be required.

The first question is remarkably easy to answer, even if the answer is bewildering: it really is a super-extended reading of Comp. 6i, yes. To be sure, in the middle of the performance, it goes plunging off into completely uncharted territory and gets up to all sorts of wild antics while it's out there; but although I kept expecting this to resolve into a transition phase towards another piece, it never happens and instead we eventually, finally, return to the place where we started. I'd forgotten this, too, but apparently I had been aware at one point that the Avignon date featured this extra-long version of the piece: when I checked the Composition Notes, my pencil annotations thereto flag up this concert at the point where B. states baldly "(f)or the most part I have utilized this composition in the traditional A B A structural context (there have been other interpretations)". I did remember having read these notes before, and even remembered having written about them - I just hadn't recalled that I had linked that up to this exact reading of the piece. (We'll chalk that one up to the demon THC, shall we...) For the benefit of anyone who has access to those same notes and wonders whether this extended middle section - which utterly departs from the written score for minutes on end - constitutes the "fermata section" which B. mentions: no, that is something else again (and can be heard on all versions of the piece, right before the beginning of the final restatement of the A section of the theme). I can't remember ever coming across a live example such as B. discusses in the notes, where this fermata lasts "as long as five minutes"; here, it lasts only a few seconds, as usual; but that weird and wonderful middle section really is something else, completely free and open but always moving, always creative***. 

As for the second number - well, whatever it is, it most definitely is not Comp. 6L. Indeed, it is so far removed from that exceptionally distinctive piece that I can only assume whoever stuck that label on this file was thinking of some other piece altogether when they did so... My memory of 6L is pretty clear, for two reasons: first, it was part of one of the most vivid and memorable Braxtothon sessions, which marked the point at which I was well and truly hooked by this stuff; and second, because later that same day I heard it again, on Circle's Paris Concert, where it had been mistaken for a generic "duet", and erroneously co-credited to Chick Corea. (I was outraged by this and immediately sent an email to Jason Guthartz about it - ! He did update Restructures accordingly, in short order#.) So, what with one thing and another, I was not about to forget this number - and this second file on the Avignon boot ain't it. What it is, I must confess I have no idea; it sounds like a partial recording anyway, and we are probably missing the section(s) which would enable us to identify it, but what we do have is quite upbeat and lively, completely different from the tentative "stepping" theme of 6L. At times it sounds quite bluesy - and at one point I found myself thinking I was on the verge of recognising a "quote" from B., only to realise that what I was reminded of is in fact "Comin' On" by Bobby Bradford, and whatever else this might be, it surely is not that##. 

The mysterious second file is also somewhat marred, for much of its running time, by electronic interference - which the listener just has to try and shut out. Nevertheless, this set is highly recommended to all serious fans and friendly experiencers, mainly because of that shit-hot first number. What a great band this was, when it was firing on all cylinders.

***

And so to the main event, so to speak... The chief points of interest with regard to BL014 overlap to a fair degree: what does this - slightly earlier - version of 40n sound like, and how much difference does it make to have Teitelbaum sitting in with them? The answers to both questions are a little perplexing. 

23g is first up, anyway, and it feels oddly lifeless in this rendition, as if Holland and Altschul are not really sure what they're meant to be doing with it; B's flying solo still manages to ignite it. Teitelbaum is first heard - faintly - just after the five-minute mark, creaky-door sounds announcing the synth's first entrance. In principle he could have quite an interesting role in this piece, being neither a third soloist as such, nor part of the rhythm section (whose own role is strictly locked down for most of this number); but in practice, although he accompanies much of B's bravura alto solo, it's debatable whether his presence really adds a great deal. In any case, once Wheeler takes over, RT lays out and we don't really hear from him again.

40n is of course instantly recognisable - and incidentally, comparison between the beginning of this version and the one on the Arista LP, plus the Montreux video, suggests that rather less than two and a half minutes were lost from the latter### - and here we do at least glimpse something new, in that Holland's rock-solid bow technique on that hypnotic drone is backed up by a low tone from the synth, although that doesn't become completely clear until Holland himself switches things up. But whatever the plan might have been, this reading then becomes a weird instance of life imitating art: what was only achieved on the album by careful and time-constrained editing, apparently happened here organically, the introduction yielding to a prolonged bass solo. This being a bootleg and all, where no liberties will have been taken with the recording, we are left unable to reconcile the unedited Montreux version with this previous one, in such a way as to understand them both as faithful and valid interpretations of the written score. When the leader rejoins the fray around nine minutes in, both he and Holland essay some moaning, crying attacks which are intriguing and highly effective - and some time around then, the synth gradually noses its way back in too, very gently making its presence felt. This basically comes across for the most part as a strangely subdued, held-back reading which only really threatens to pick up steam in its final third, though even then it's not whole-heartedly active - though we do at least get plenty of variety in the voicings, and the synth does briefly make a real difference to proceedings, injecting a genuine air of tension and menace around the thirteenth minute...

... but then, from around 14.00 or so, the band is clearly nudging its way towards Holland's "Four Winds", which B. himself quotes directly, some time before the piece actually starts; for whatever reason, Teitelbaum chooses now to let rip at last, though he disappears from the soundscape entirely once the actual tune is underway, re-entering only at the very end of B's solo, and playing along with those taken by Wheeler and Altschul. Then again, what anybody thought a synth might add to a tune as whimsical and straight-up as this one is, really, anybody's guess. Overall, though this concert is a very cool one-off to have in the collection, it will basically always look better on paper than it sounds on the recording, coming off more as a missed opportunity than any sort of real success. I'm not sure that much planning can have gone into the special guest's presence on this sort of set; it feels more as if he just suddenly became available, and everyone assumed that magic would surely ensue. But in his (presumed) efforts not to dominate proceedings or overwhelm the band, RT fails to add a great deal to the sound at all, and 40n in particular - which seems as if it might have been a wonderful platform for such a line-up - rather comes and goes without leaving much of an impression.

So that's that... next time, it'll be back to GTM, I think... 

* In case anyone reading this doesn't know the deal with these "official boots", they were made available in batches, free of charge, by TCF around twelve (?) years ago - and were eventually pulled from the revamped site. As far as I know they are not currently available anywhere - which is why McClintic Sphere and I are both missing the Paris '78 creative orchestra files. They'll turn up at some point - and in the meantime, I may eventually figure out the best way to share some of the recordings on here. Until then, at time of writing, the only releases in this series which are still available via Bandcamp are BL020, BL040 and BL041. 

** Given that Jason G. chose a portion of the opening medley for inclusion on the NBH010 sampler, I may have been cheating myself here, but I just didn't quite fancy it. The more used my ears become to far-out, experimental sounds, the less enthusiastic I often feel about listening to more predictable fare... and I'm afraid that on this occasion, the opening of 23a left me thinking "Fuck it, let's just skip to the bit with 23f and see what was going on there". [It's why I can never get into collecting live shows by rock bands, even the more adventurous ones; it's always going to mean having to listen to night after night of the "big hits". I just don't have the stomach for it. Not that I'm directly comparing the '74-5 quartet to a rock band exactly, but... OK, that's enough of that.]

*** We can draw a contrast there with the big fusion-era bands, and their notorious noodling. Fusion, intended to combine the improvisational rigour of jazz with the energy and drive of rock, all too often seemed to multiply the most self-indulgent tendencies of both. This is absolutely not what happened in the Avignon 6i. 

# I don't wish to imply that the incorrect listing was somehow Jason's fault - of course it wasn't. He was only reproducing what was on the album cover, and could hardly have been expected to fact-check every detail of every release.

## No disrespect at all is intended to Mr Bradford, either. But quite apart from anything else, I don't know if that tune was even extant back in 1974; and even if it had been, I am not aware of any precedent for the working group playing a contemporary "cover" in a live set. (The version of "Cherokee" from Minneapolis two years later is about as close as they ever came, to my knowledge - and as odd as that was, the tune was already well and truly a standard by then.)

### For the benefit of anyone who doesn't understand that reference, it is explained in the third footnote to my recent post; although, at the time I wrote that, I was possibly (uncharacteristically!) a bit too willing to take another listener's comment at face value. Without some really firm backup for the assertion that 2m 35s is missing from the beginning of the show, I'm now inclined to think that "Alex" is mistaken about that. (But I could be wrong.)