Interview with Anthony Braxton - North Sea Jazz 1997

[@edoardodalpra4742]

He's the greatest. Also, his neurons are firing all over the place. My conservatory teacher met him in person and shared a ride with him, he says Braxton's all over the place when he talks about anything. He also told me how he started singing and shouting while gesticulating weirdly with his hands.

[@paytonmacdonald]

Beautiful. Braxton is one of the leading lights of our time. Deeply inspiring. Thank you for posting.

[@sushantsagar7728]

He talks like he plays sax, bursts of notes going here and there, soulful and spacey.

[@gdavis9296]

You’re totally right! He must know himself very well

[@jeffdawson2786]

Such a gentleman and a creative mind of staggering proportions. He is the professor of the avant-garde.

[@23trillionskidoo]

Holy shit, this made my mind explode, sounds like Sun Ra plus Pat Martino

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

In my mind just as idea is like Cecil, Dolphy, Stockhausen and a whole lot of Bach n Scoenberg, a bit of the AACm (sounds a bit like how some of those guys talk a little bit, especially Threadgill), n Coltrane a bit, he played like Trane a bit in the 60's so there is the putting things in groups mindset, lets see and uhh there's Dizzy, McCoy Tyner, John Cage (he's quite open in ways), yeah quite a bit of Ra (like he has his own world philosophy), some Beethoven, Mozart (he's quite passionate), Brahms, definitely a bit of Stravinsky too, he's proud in that kind of way of himself. ,: 0

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Pat Martino is like a box thinker, now am starting 2 get what u mean ,: 0

[@hopelittwin]

fantastic interview. thank you for uploading it

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love your music!!

[@andrewking563]

And of course a little Shostakovich... can go a long way! 😂

[@HighsmithPsy]

goes deep FAST

[@normienormienormie8855]

A lot of words are coming out of his mouth

[@Owlute]

Brilliant man

[@nancyvega2606]

He seems like a very smart dude!

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

n we have pineapples n pizza : -D

[@nancyvega2606]

Nice style!

[@nancyvega2606]

Coo dude!

[@scoopwithpudding8774]

anthony takes and breath and then..."what was the question again?"

[@scoopwithpudding8774]

love the guy and his music though

[@nancyvega2606]

I am skeptical about the year of the interview!

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Is probably more 2004 mid 2000s kind of time probably, god what an inspired guy he is like a star that just grows bigger n bigger n doesn't shut off ,: O

[@andrewking563]

He does say he's 'excited about the new milennia' a few times, which would imply that it's pre 2000

[@theoct4925]

What are the 'Dutch influences' he is talking about around the 2:30-3:00 mark? A school of philosophy?

[@StashWyslouch]

i wonder if he's talking about musicians like han bennink and the kind of free improvised music that came out of the dutch culture in the 60's and 70's that combined performance art, music, humor etc.

[@TheatreCritic]

1. Sounds very intelligent. 2. Huh?

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

My name s trigonometry ,: 0

[@blackrocknutt]

we like weird. thoughtfullly and knowledgeably weird especially.

[@badhorse3]

I think musicians should be allowed to talk, even if they are musicians. Ask someone who's not a musician to talk about music and they will sound twice as ridiculous as Braxton in this interview.

[@patriciagullickson9591]

Mikhail Lewis what ??

[@ericarmstrong6540]

Talking about music is somewhat akin to dancing about architecture. You are engaging in one completely incongruent exercise or vocation to describe the nature and impact of another exercise or vocation. To attempt it is to fail or at least fall short.

[@erikheddergott5514]

@@ericarmstrong6540 oh, God! That is such a lame Cliche. Word of Mouth IS a Necessity for a Music Like Jazz. Taking about Sideman, so the get known, Talking about Scales and Changes so all Over the World Musicians can instantely play with each other. And finally, talking about Art can be as funny as talking about Sport.

[@juancalvibassclarinet1171]

He is a genius...

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

That is bs [:] 0

[@5Hundo500]

Notice how he didn't really answer any of the questions.

[@rinahall]

Freejazz!!!!

[@yoshy321]

Not to mention he has created his own ways to notate music and multiple forms of new music systems... blah blah.

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

We invented the tri series 1, the triceretops ,: 0

[@bonmot7850]

Yes. Also kind of a weirdo. Have you read his "tri-centric music" theories? Kind of weird.

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Jesus n I am stumped, n I don't know no knoledge ,: 0

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

TZhe tradition s creativity, hehe like that : -D

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

n he is giving that over glasses look, shit I just forgot everything I was thinking n going 2 say : -D

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

The expansionist method of the asthetics of the trinome centrigrade is by that of the forclosure, it stems in2 the delivery of the respiradome ,: 0

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Transcendant qualities interesting n inspiring ,: 0

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

That is the thing he's open n questioning his ideas, he's not some deep seeted purist or strict classical guy, he is all for transcendence n possibilities not limitations ,: 0

[@5Hundo500]

Anyone with an understanding of basic concepts in mathematics can do those things. What is happening here is people are being entranced by magical ideas and are forgetting about the music completely. What matters is what the music sounds like. Anthony Braxton has created some very interesting music, but I don't really care about how he did it if this is the crap he spews when someone asks him a very simple question.

[@erikheddergott5514]

Have you EVER heard Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman or Sun Ra talking or answering Questions? He IS an Artist.

[@nathanwolf5066]

@@erikheddergott5514 tbh i can understand braxton waaaaaay better than shorter in interviews

[@erikheddergott5514]

@@nathanwolf5066 Exactly, as much as I admire the three I mentioned, Braxton is much easier to understand.

[@pgroove163]

​@@erikheddergott5514 angels and demons at play

[@5Hundo500]

Let's just start from the beginning. He begins with some bullshit about historicity, then moves on to some comments about music history that, when you decode them, are just lists of his influences. Then we get to this "trans-idiomatic thought construct" which, as it turns out, amounts to just about the craziest thing I've ever heard because he's supposed to be talking about improvisation and he ends up talking about a "trans-spiritual position," which is somehow relevant? Don't think so.

[@Habib-ke7gq]

you're a dumbass

[@man.6618]

you're a dumbass

[@5Hundo500]

What the hell is he talking about? Just listen closely, he doesn't say a single thing addressing the interviewer's first question about improvisation and structural composition. This talk is not about music at all.

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Is like Sun ra or John cage or Stockhausen

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

Cecil Taylor won't take shit interviewers either, or being some kind of pawn to be used however the interviewer likes ,: 0

[@sonicmultiplicities473]

Just another neurotypical nincompoop trying to not feel too emotionally hurt by how incapable he is at understanding the words of a reigning super-genius.

[@slmjkdbtl]

@@Jiv_Ing57819 tbh it's not a stupid question and not a shit interviewer

[@Jiv_Ing57819]

@@slmjkdbtl Ok u r right, u get what u want n see was easy, n is only because I like u dude ,:-0

[@rinahall]

I just discovered anthony braxton while hanging out on youtube. I then did some research on him. In my opinion, he is certainly the biggest crook in the history of jazz. It's totally amazing that he could have such a career in the music world and have such academic positions. I mean, what is going on with the listeners, the media and the jazz community that they want us to believe that this guy is a genius? Everything about him is a problem: his instrumental technique is close to zero, his music itself is modern when it sounds like a beginner's band, his caharabia discourse about his music means absolutely nothing, but also his interviews in which he comes across as a pretentious old bigot. Please, retire and let the real artists play.

[@ZPooKn]

lol go to wash your ears

[@rinahall]

@@ZPooKn go to wash your ears

[@SAraya-sd2yh]

Have you ever heard Braxton's music? Sounds like you have not

[@rinahall]

@@SAraya-sd2yh I have heard is bullshit since 1982

[@johnboyd9854]

I’ve seen this same cut and paste comment of yours posted on several of Mr. Braxton’s videos. Sooooooo, you watched a few videos about him and that makes you an authority on his life and music enough to call him a fraud? If you don’t like his music, that’s one thing. But to call someone a crook/fraud after they’ve devoted 50+ years to touring around the world, played with some of the greatest improvisational musicians of all time, recorded hundreds of records and mentored countless musicians to find their own greatness is all somewhat akin to saying the holocaust never happened. Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler, Barry Altschul, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sam Rivers, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Lester Bowie, William Parker, Derek Bailey, Joelle Leandre, Marilyn Crispell, Gerry Hemingway, Mark Dresser, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, et al are just some of the musicians who have played with Mr. Braxton and who all have an extremely high assessment of him. I’m much more trusting of their judgement than of your’s, pup that you are. He’s also widely hailed by critics and fans alike as being one of the most important innovators in jazz over the past century. But maybe these people are merely frauds and are part of a cultural conspiracy and that you are the true expert on all things, having watched a few videos on KZbin. Who have you played and recorded with and what albums have you put out? Have you successfully fused modern classical music with the improvisational tradition of jazz? Have the things you’ve done in your life touched and inspired thousands if not millions of people? I will go lightly on you here, unknowing pup that you are, to say that what you wrote is absolute gibberish, based on little substance and that you are the true fraud here.

[@richiebeirach3671]

great learned cat ,,my respect for his brilliant intellect ,but ,,sorry ,he never learned how to play on changes very well ,just listen to his solo on the CIRCLE CD LIVE IN PARIS with chick on there is no greater love ,,his solo ,,please forgive ,,its NOT happening