Something that (almost) everybody knows about B's music is how much of it there is. He has never stopped working, developing, growing... and never stops releasing recordings either, though some years are more fecund with these than others. But the point is that someone with the urge to check out the maestro's music from a standing start, at this point, can find enough material to keep him/ her/ them busy for years without even straying into the 21st century; extend that to include, say, all three (four) species of GTM, and that would keep the interested and careful listener busy for a long time. In my own case, we're talking about renewing a consuming interest; even then, I have enough recordings - both official releases and otherwise - to keep me consumed for a very long time to come without, say, needing to catch up on the most recent developments.
However, that's not where I'm at. At a time when it finally feels appropriate to be listening to B. on a near-daily basis again, I'm taking a holistic approach and will be trying to hear as much new stuff as I can, even while I rediscover older and previously-explored territories...
I mentioned a few days ago that I'd just listened to the Other Minds Duet recording of Comp. 429 with James Fei (and some software): that's pretty much as new as it gets (in terms of the release, very new indeed, given that it was technically out until the day after I heard it; in terms of the music, you're still only talking about an event which took place last year). Then, last night, I discovered the existence of Belgian guitarist Kobe Van Cauwenberghe and his Ghost Trance Septet, intitally via a super-succinct video teaser, and then in more detail when I played the first piece from the band's album, via bandcamp: this is a 23-minute reading of Comp. 255 (+ 34 + 40f + 168), and it really is fantastic, bursting with life - absolutely full to the brim (despite its relative brevity) with energy and inspired creativity and careful attention to the materials. The album came out a few months ago on double cd or double vinyl and believe me, I shall be ordering a copy of it from the label (el NEGOCITO [sic]) in the near future. Knowing that young musicians around the world are organising projects of this calibre is incredibly uplifting (at a time when so little going on in the world seems to be anywhere near fitting such a description). I can hardly wait to hear all four pieces; and in the meantime, I shall be trying to hear the leader's solo recording, 2020's Ghost Trance Solos (on a label called all that dust [sic again, arf arf]). This guy must, by the look of it, be a real visionary.
... and of course I mentioned last year that I had acquired the marvellous Quartet (New Haven) 2014 on Firehouse 12 (mentioned it, and floated the idea of writing about it - only apparently I just wasn't ready to do it at that point... which will have come as a surprise to precisely nobody)... not to mention that Thumbscrew CD, which I really, really will write about one day soon (a promise which anyone reading this may now take a little more seriously, following the activity of the last week)...
One thing I haven't dipped into at all, up till now, is the ZIM stuff. With this project, I have to admit to some outright avoidance: they do say that one must never have any regrets, and as regards many of the regrets which I could have regarding this blog and all the rest of it, I have been able to let much of those go. On the other hand, I may never entirely be able to let go of the fact that B. brought his ZIM sextet over to the UK for a mini-residency, and that I didn't even find out it about until well after the event (admittedly they played in London - inevitably - and I haven't lived there since 2003; still, had I known about it in advance, even with all the stuff that was going on in my life, I would definitely have made an effort to attend). [It's actually not even the only performance the maestro has given over here since I've last had any direct contact with him; but this, above all, is the event which I would have prioritised.]
So, although I have made periodic half-hearted searches for ZIM material online, and have kept half an eye out for official releases of the same, I had not heard any of this stuff at all - not a single note of it - before tonight. I don't know how long it has been available on Youtube..? But it's only the other day I came across what appears to be some sort of official Braxton channel there - it's where I heard the duet with Fei - and only tonight did I realise that the whole of 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 is available on the same channel. So... I finally gave in and listened to Comp. 402.
This really is incredible stuff, and despite containing a very lengthy sax performance by the leader (which is pretty amazing in itself, but what else would one expect?), the overall feel of the music is quite unlike anything else I've ever heard. It's... very hard to know what to say about it, other than: it's new and it's fucking beautiful. I can't go back in time, to witness the London performances in real life; and B. may very well never take this project out on the road again. But I can now immerse myself in the music, at least: all twelve pieces are on the channel, and I will work my way gradually through them. (I didn't even know about the release itself until very recently, partly 'cos it only came out last year, partly because although I do search periodically for new Braxton albums online, I only tend to search for CDs and vinyl, whereas this monster was only released on Blu Ray. I don't own a player for this format, never have, and in all honesty I can't say I've ever felt the need for one... until now!! It's not a top priority, but I will need to buy the disc sooner rather than later I suppose - these things don't tend to be available forever - even if I don't immediately get hold of the hardware on which to play it..!)
As I said in passing the other night, not all the newer material necessarily sounds that new, regardless of its quality - and that is particularly going to be the case for someone like me, who already has hundreds and hundreds of listening hours clocked up. But this experience tonight really did sound new, and it really is profoundly inspiring to know that, at an age when most people have long since stopped breaking new ground even if they have not lapsed into outright retirement, Maestro Braxton is still forging ahead, ever restless, ever the student as well as the master. At a time when the very fate of the world really does seem to be in the balance, what an example he sets for us.
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I did listen to the whole Rainbow Gallery thing in the end, not that anyone is wondering..! I can't pretend to have drawn many definitive conclusions, but I will post again with my thoughts about it, over the next few days (time permitting: one would scarcely know it from all this blather, but I am actually pretty busy at the moment)...
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