All the news that's (apparently not) fit to print

 

... not Anthony Braxton

I was going to London, then I wasn't... then I could have been after all, and now...

Back in May, I first posted about the unlikely prospect of Braxton at the BBC Proms; the maestro himself was due to come and play as a featured soloist in an orchestral recital of a piece of his (Comp. 27) which has only very seldom been performed, and never officially recorded; and of course when I first heard about this, I fully intended to go - without really stopping to think about what a logistical pain in the arse that might be for me. As reality gradually set in, and several attempts to find people I might be able to attend with fell through, I accepted gloomily that I would just have to miss the event after all, resigned to listening to it on the radio. 

There was a brief rekindling of hope very recently, when an old friend of mine that I haven't seen in years (but who actually came with me to the historic 2004 quintet performance, later released for posterity) unexpectedly replied to an email I had sent weeks previously, saying he was interested in going but had only just seen my message; however, as the initial delay might imply, this person is not the easiest to get hold of, or the most assiduous checker of email* - and my follow-up to his reply has once again elicited no response. 

Back to square one, then, and at this point I had completely given up on the idea, much as I didn't feel happy about it - how many more such opportunities might I get, if any? and so on, and so forth.

Of course, I still kept a tab open for the concert in my web browser. A couple of days ago, I was surprised when I flicked through this and saw something change on the page - then looked again and realised that the picture - previously of the maestro himself - had been replaced with a new one. I did a double-take and looked more closely: nope, I didn't know who this was at all, but I did know that it's not Ilan Volkov (whose idea this was in the first place, I presume - and who will be conducting on the night) and it sure as hell isn't Braxton. Scrolling down, I realised that it's actually Aaron Diehl - featured pianist for the entire concert (which includes works by Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams as well), and someone I have encountered fleetingly as a member of Tyshawn Sorey's trio**. What I still didn't initially realise is what was implied by the sudden change of photo: there is absolutely no mention of this on the website, but it looks as if B. will not now be coming after all. Of course, the concert is still due to go ahead, and will still conclude as planned with the (heavily-collaged) Comp. 27 quasi-premiere, but the composer will play no active part in it. James Fei is still due to perform, as is bassoonist Katherine Young***, but the role which would have been played by B. has been taken over by Ingrid Laubrock. Like I say, there is no acknowledgement of this substitution whatsoever from the BBC: it's just as if the new arrangement was what was due to happen all along#.

There's nothing I can see on TCF either - rarely the most prompt source of new information at the best of times - so we are left to speculate (that is, those of us who even knew he was due to come in the first place) as to why B. has changed his plans. One hopes, of course, that it is not due to ill health; depressing as it might sound, it is preferable to suppose that he simply doesn't wish to travel to the UK in the light of the recent riots (it's not the best time to be planning a visit to a major British city, unfortunately). But whatever the reason might be, from a completely selfish point of view this changes utterly the complexion of the event for me. I can now listen from a distance, without anticipating any lifelong regret about it... 

I'm sure that Laubrock will give a very good account of herself in B's absence - she has long since graduated from his "school of creative excellence", as it were - and with Fei present, and Volkov at the helm, there is every reason to expect a thoroughly sympathetic and engaged reading of the music. Still, it's not the same, is it? I'm rather glad I hadn't made arrangements to go, now... nevertheless the blog of course extends its very best wishes to Mr Braxton, and hopes that he is in good health and of general good cheer.

***

In listening (repeatedly) to the music in the Black Saint box set, I had also thought this might be a good time to try to clear up one of the minor mysteries in the discography: the entry formerly on Restructures for the album Prag 1984 (Quartet Performance) noted that it is "unclear which composition in the Comp. 110 series" is included. Looking at the back cover for the CD, it's actually unclear why this note ever appeared in Jason G's discography, since the piece is listed as being Comp. 110a, and is designated on the front cover by the graphic title assigned to that piece; but presumably there was some reason for the confusion having arisen, and with three of the 110 series being included on Six Compositions (Quartet) 1984, I figured it should be easy enough to compare them## with what was played in Prag(ue). I remembered from back in November 2022 that the album was up on Youtube; but when I went looking for it, not only was the video untraceable, I eventually discovered that the account which posted it has been closed (presumably for copyright infringement, though I doubt it was this album which occasioned that). I do have a CD-R copy of the album, but that would be notably more of a pain to check and it's not going to happen just yet. Realistically, I can't see that there is much doubt about this anyway: the title for 110a is on both the front and back covers, the full opus number is also present, and although there is no mention of the pulse tracks on the packaging, the discography listed the second piece played as being collaged with Comp. 108b, which is also worked into the fourth track on the Black Saint album; 110c and 110d are not played with pulse tracks. At some point I will try to settle this definitively if I can, but in the meantime it looks as if the real mystery was why anyone ever thought this was subject to doubt to begin with...

* I can't complain too much about this: I myself am basically contactable exclusively via email, which my daughter tells me nobody still uses other than me (at least, not for actual messaging). My friend is probably on social media - I wouldn't know..!

** Fleetingly, because although I checked this group out earlier this year, it turned out there wasn't much there for me. Sorey is a musician I hold in great regard, but I haven't made much headway with his (largely piano-based) composition, and I thought I'd give this a crack. In the event it seems to me that he has seized the chance to fill the hole in the market left by Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio (although in terms of the band's own sound I was reminded far more of Bill Evans) - and to judge by some ecstatic reviews in suitably high-brow publications, the group may have been successful in their endeavour. Good luck to them - but from my point of view, there was little to hold my interest. (I may have mentioned once or twice that jazz standards are not really my bag..?)

*** Young was strongly associated with Diamond Curtain Wall Music and Falling River Music, and was one of the three featured duet partners on the giant box set 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012. 

# Who knows: maybe it was? But I don't think so... the chance to play at a Promenade concert, on one of his own pieces, with an orchestra under the direction of a skilled and sympathetic conductor, must surely have been too tempting to pass up for a man who has only very belatedly begun to enjoy the widespread acclaim which his music has long deserved. I do believe he originally intended to play.

## 110b does not appear on the Black Saint album, or anywhere else in the recorded canon. It still seemed pretty likely that I'd be able to confirm a match with one of the three pieces which do appear on the album...