ANTHONY BRAXTON – Solo - Live At Moers Festival (LP-1974)

Label: Moers Music – 01002

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: W. Germany / Released: 1974

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Recorded live, June 1, 1974 at the 3rd International New Jazz Festival Moers, Germany

Produced by – Burkhard Hennen

Mastered by – Paul Hubweber

Recorded by – Norbert Freibrück & Michael Krause

Photos by – Alex Dutilh (front), Alfred Bangert (back)

Cover Design – Jürgen Pankarz

A1 - JMK– 80 CF N– 7 ...................................................... 8:10

A2 - NNWZ 48 KB N ......................................................... 4:50

A3 - RORRT 33 H7T 4 ...................................................... 5:18

B1 - AOT H MBA T ............................................................ 5:19

B2 - 106 Kelvin M– 16 ....................................................... 5:31

B3 - RZO4M(6) AHW ......................................................... 3:12

All compositions by Anthony Braxton

Six years after his groundbreaking double album of solo alto saxophone compositions / improvisations (For Alto on Delmark), Anthony Braxton was just beginning to receive the wider recognition that would shortly land him a contract with Arista records. Just prior to that event, he recorded this live solo performance at the German Moers festival where he shows that he'd lost none of the fire and imagination evinced on that initial effort. Possibly unique among improvising instrumentalists, Braxton concentrates each piece on a relatively small, carefully delineated "sound territory," routinely uncovering vast amounts of detail and beauty in areas that might appear sparse or bare. Each piece receives its own personalized approach. If he's investigating the properties of stuttered attacks, he follows that particular alley to see where it leads. Probing into a bluesy figure results in a dissection of that theme, laying open to view multiple aspects of its form. His obvious and remarkable fluency on alto allows Braxton to command the subtlest shadings as well as the harshest split tones at will. At the end, the dramatic impact of his performance is clear from the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic audience reaction. Not an easy recording to locate, Solo: Live at Moers Festival is a worthy companion to his other early solo albums, For Alto and Alto Sax Improvisations: Series F.

(Review by Brian Olewnick)

If you find it, buy this album!