Here's a recording of the Anthony Braxton Quartet at the Civic Theatre in Leeds from their 'Forces in Motion' tour in November 1985. Three of the concerts from that tour are available on CDs from Leo Records, but each is quite different, and this is no exception.
The first half is by far the strongest, with extended improvisation that really catches fire. The quartet is outstanding, producing extraordinary music. Reeds, bass and drums shine, but the key player, to my mind, is Marilyn Crispell, who holds the entire set together. The second half fails to sustain this - perhaps it is from fatigue, or a poor venue, but there is an aimless introductory improvisation which is barely rescued in the latter stages by Braxton and Crispell. There is a good write up of this concert in Graham Lock's 'Forces in Motion' book, and it's from this that I've taken the set list.
The sound is adequate, but no better than that, so this is offered in mp3 only. Thanks to the original taper and seeder. If there are unreleased recordings of the other concerts from this tour, I'd be very interested in hearing them.
Anthony Braxton Quartet
Civic Theatre
Leeds, England
November 24, 1985
Set 1: Composition 122 (+ 108A), Composition 69N, Composition 69Q, Piano solo from Piano Piece 1, Composition 69M
Part 1a - 46.15
Part 1b - 6.09
Set 2: Composition 69H, Bass solo from Composition 96, Composition 69(O), Composition 116
Part 2 - 41.05
Anthony Braxton (cl, fl, as, Cm-sx, sss)
Marilyn Crispell (p)
Mark Dresser (b)
Gerry Hemingway (d)
MP3 @ 320
ReplyDeletehttp://rapidshare.com/files/176757131/ABQLeeds1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/176777173/ABQLeeds2.zip
I just wanted to say how wonderful your selection is. I have nothing to offer but my admiration. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteSlight adjustment to my previous comment (for the sake of clarity): how wonderful your selectionS are!
ReplyDeletemerci mon gars!
Forces In Motion is a 'must read' for any Braxton fan. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteI just recently finished reading "Forces In Motion" so the timing on this is great! Thanks for posting this concert! I second Tantris' interest in any other unreleased concert recordings from this tour that might exist. (after my recent acquisition of the Arista box set it'll be a while before I can get around to purchasing the released sets)
ReplyDeleteThanks for everything to everybody who's contri bute to this extraordinary blog. But one question aniway: why do you offer us in MP3 the concerts or recordings who are of lesser sound quality? There's no logic there: you should propose it, in the contrary, in FLAC in the purpose to save every bit of sound possible! Good job, aniway.
ReplyDeleteI love the Braxton, and a lot of that free jazz music, you are very generous, and all I can offer is a big THANK YOU. Happy New Year too.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sol (!): I have 3 Braxton titles that I would be more than happy to upload for you and your readers. E-mail me if interested and I will fill you in on the specs.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Inca
troutmask@hotmail.com
Hi Inca,
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting. If you like, you can post the details in the comments here, and we can move them to a main post on the blog.
Cheers, T
You have one ofthe best blogs thereabouts. Just incredible music! I was trying to download the Braxton Quartet Leeds Concert and got a following message - "This file is neither allocated to a Premium Account, or a Collector's Account, and can therefore only be downloaded 10 times.
ReplyDeleteThis limit is reached." I've got the Braxton Leo cds, but would love to add this one to the collection. Thanks again for sharing so much wonderful music.