Renewal of (non-)hostilities

 

Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton live at pioneer works, 26 october 2023 (ESP'Disk)

This one really crept up on me: I had no idea it existed until a few days ago, when I saw it listed for preorder (on CD) on a well-known online marketplace - but with no actual stated release date. At that point, I was unable to verify its existence on Discogs, and assumed it might be months off; however - by one of those nice syncronicities - an email from Avto G. referenced the same release, talking of it in such a way as to make it clear that he had already heard it. From there, it obviously took only minimal digging to discover that it is in fact only the CD issue which is still technically forthcoming: the album can be streamed (and bought) from Bandcamp. A vinyl issue, released on January 31, has already come and gone: sold out. 

So, at least some of what I said near the beginning of last year regarding this on/off collaboration was mistaken: these guys had already got back together earlier than I thought (in October 2023, indeed - if not before then, too). Clearly, all three of them believe there is something there which is worth pursuing. This is a good thing :)

I had better clarify at this point something which a cursory glance through last January's post titles might confound: when I said "... and now for the good news", I did not mean at all that the reunion show/s with Wolf Eyes were not "good news". The post title was for the benefit of those who had read the previous post, and knew that B. had lost his footing at the Zebulon show and had been helped back to his feet by Nate Young; at the solo show a few days afterwards, he had experienced no such incident - hence the good news. (Obviously, the fact that he planned to attend the BBC Proms event, later last year - and then pulled out of it - was not such good news; but as far as we know around here, the maestro is still standing, still playing and definitely still composing.)

Still, for my part, I can confess that although I approve the hell out of the fact that the "BraxEyes" grouping exists in the first place, they are yet to yield any favourite recordings of mine. Not only do I not have a problem with industrial / noise music / power electronics (..., whatever one might call it these days), I used to be fully signed up for it, albeit mainly in my younger days; but then, I still listen to various forms of extreme "rock"-based musics*, too - I just don't feel the need to blend such stuff with saxophones or clarinets, etc. As much as I still love listening to intense free jazz also, I don't tend to seek out areas where these styles or genres overlap. You will never get me to sign up for the idea that jazz/rock fusion is the highest of all musical art forms; with very few exceptions**, I like to keep my jazz and my rock entirely separate. 

Of course, this particular grouping represents neither jazz nor rock, but is really something quite different. And we know that all involved have enthused about what a natural meeting this is: B. has said of Wolf Eyes that "they felt like family immediately. The communication was immediate"***, whilst John Olson said of B. that "his language on the saxophone is just insane... There is nothing he can't do on the horn. It was a perfect match."# More recently - around the time of the concert under consideration here, in fact## - the duo posted on their Instagram page: "We are extremely grateful for last night’s show. Braxton was incredible." What's more, it's worth remembering that this was not a case of the two younger men seeking out the older player, persuading him to get down with something to which he might not have been naturally suited; B. himself reached out to them in the first instance. We need have no doubts at this point that this is a serious musical endeavour, not some sort of passing caprice.

No, the problem I have had with these performances is one of simple acoustics: if Wolf Eyes get even close to maximum power, this poses problems which will inevitably vex even the most ingenious live engineer. A saxophonist is left with no choice but to play flat-out, or be drowned out; and whilst B. is more than capable of matching just about anybody in the post-Ayler school of reed-bending, he excels above all in subtle distinctions, precisely-controlled timbral distortions rather than balls-out blasting - all of which are never going to be fully audible over that sort of backing. What he may be hearing in his head doubtless gels perfectly with what his collaborators are playing, but what we hear will only tend to be a partial representation of that.

Hence, this current release is probably the performance I have most enjoyed out of those I have heard. Atanase didn't seem to like it so much, presumably because Wolf Eyes sound a little toned down, but that is exactly what enables us to hear everything the maestro is playing - and that in turn frees him up to play with more latitude than he is maybe used to in this context. I liked this a lot, and when the CD is out I will buy it. Olson and Young are not just sonic terrorists - far from it: they are improvisers, and do their work on a second-by-second basis, like real improvisers do. Having them dial down the power is, for this (highly partial) listener, an acceptable trade-off for being to hear B. clearly for once, and to hear how he works with them.

That's about it really. Oh, except to say that for all the above, it's actually quite a few years since I listened to Black Vomit - I may end up eating my words, as soon as I get round to rectifying that...

*... for a certain value of "rock": death metal, grindcore, powerviolence, noise rock, sludge metal etc have very little to do with "rock", when it comes down to it. The term indicates the origins and roots (just as does "jazz" for lots of things I listen to these days which really are not that at all). No more than that, though. [On the whole. I could actually pick an argument with myself right here, given that this isn't the place for it, and it would be nitpicking anyway - but quite a lot of sludge metal is pretty straightforwardly blues-based, for what it's worth.] 

** Last Exit, some of Zorn's stuff... when it comes to fusion, a few other things, but I do mean a few. [Sylvain Kassap put out a very good octet album a few years back - although he carefully avoided mentioning the obvious, i.e. how clearly influenced it was by Bobby Previte's Pan Atlantic project. We'll let him off - he's put in the mileage.] Even in Last Exit's case, that's a band which I approve of more than I actually listen to them, if the truth be known. I make no apology for having highly peculiar and specialised tastes.

*** Interview for The Quietus, 2021.

# The Wolf Eyes interview from which this was taken was previously available here, but the link appears to be broken. (Actually that whole site looks to be defunct.)

## The show they were talking about would seem to have taken place a little before then - on October 4th, to be precise. How often the grouping had reconvened prior to October 2023 is unknown to me, fairly obviously...