New Musical Figurations: Anthony Braxton's Cultural Critique

333 Pages·1994·17.52 MB·English

by  Ronald M. Radano

New Musical Figurations
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New Musical Figurations
Anthony Braxton's Cultural Critique
Ronald M. Radano
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
RonaldM. RadanoisassistantprofessorofAfro-Americanstudiesandmusic,
UniversityofWisconsin,Madison.
Titlepagephoto: AnthonyBraxtonplayingacontrabassclarinet.
PhotocourtesyBillSmith.
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
© 1993byTheUniversityofChicago
Allrightsreserved.Published1993
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 94 93 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 0-226-70195-6 (cloth)
0-226-70196-4 (paper)
Radano,RonaldMichael.
Newmusicalfigurations :AnthonyBraxton'sculturalcritique/
RonaldM.Radano.
p. em.
Includesindex.
Discography: p.
1. Braxton,Anthony. 2. Jazz-Historyandcriticism. 3. Jazz
musicians-UnitedStates-Biography. I. Title.
ML419.B735R3 1993
788.7'165'092-dc20 93-1878
CIP
MN
(§)Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimum
requirementsoftheAmericanNationalStandardfor
InformationSciences-PermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,ANSIZ39.48-1984.
For my mother,
Anna Derkacs Radano,
and
In memory ofmy father,
Robert Nicholas Radano

Contents
ListofIllustrations IX
Acknowledgments Xl
ANote onSources and Methods xv
1 Introduction: ANew Musical Balance 1
2 Chicago as Aesthetic Center 28
3 Musical Assertions ofBlackIdentity 77
4 New Musical Convergences: Paris and New York 140
5 DefiningaBlackVanguard Aesthetic 180
6 BlackExperimentalism as Spectacle 238
Epilogue: Jazz Recast 269
Appendix A
PictureTitles ofCompositions Cited 277
Appendix B
Recordings CitedlAnthonyBraxtonon Record 285
MusicIndex 297
General Index 301
Vll

Illustrations
Figures
3.1 Firstpage of Piano Piece No.1 121
3.2 Apage from the score of Composition 10 123
3.3 "Linenotations" for Composition 77A 134
3.4 Picture title for Composition 8K (ca. 1968) 137
4.1 Braxton's manuscriptof Composition 61 175
5.1 Frameworkguidingthree versions of Composition 26B 193
5.2 Author's transcription of Composition 23B, phrases Iand
II 199
5.3 Author's transcription ofthe gravallic basicin
Composition 23G 202
5.4 Braxton's manuscriptof Composition 40G 207
5.5 Schematicoutlineof Composition 37 213
5.6 Cellstructures inZone C andperformance-scoreinstructions,
Composition 37 214
5.7 Adouble-page spreadfrom the score of Composition 76 215
5.8 Author's transcription ofthe opening brass/woodwindcluster
in Composition 51 217
5.9 Outlineofensembleactivityin Composition 25 220
5.10 Reduction offormal sequences in Composition 25 221
5.11 Braxton'sschematicof Performance 9/1/1979 224
5.12 Relationship betweensuperimposedline notations andthe form
ofpicturetitle (Composition 69E) 227
5.13 Schematicdiagram from Braxton, The Tri-Axium
Writings 233
Photographs
Anthony Braxtondirectingthe recordingsession for the album
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 2
Muhal Richard Abrams (ca. 1967) 76
Anthony BraxtonwithJosephJarman in Chicago's Hyde Park
(ca. 1968) 113
IX