Duets (Wesleyan) 2002

Anthony Braxton is one of the most important figures in creative music of the 20th, and now 21st, century. The MacArthur award winning composer and multi-reed instrumentalist has been expanding the boundaries of music since his emergence in the AACM in the 1960s. In a career encompassing diverse projects ranging from solo saxophone to multiple orchestra, duets have consistently served Braxton as a favorite vehicle of expression. Recorded encounters include work with Max Roach, Muhal Richard Abrams, Derek Bailey, Joseph Jarman, Marilyn Crispell, George Lewis, Richard Teitelbaum, Roscoe Mitchell, Ran Blake, and many others. However, despite long associations with such master artists as Leo Smith and Kenny Wheeler, Braxton had never recorded duets with a trumpeter (or, in this case, cornetist), until this meeting with Taylor Ho Bynum. 

Cornetist and composer Taylor Ho Bynum was born in 1975 and raised in Boston. Through his work with the Fully Celebrated Orchestra (see innova 567) and in his own projects, he has established himself as a unique musician willing to take chances in a wide variety of contexts. He is a leading creative force in the Boston music scene and beyond, and has worked with such luminaries as Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, and, of course, Anthony Braxton. 

Duets (Wesleyan) 2002 features two Braxton compositions (the first recorded examples of his post-Ghost Trance music!) and three compositions of Bynum's, plus a free improvisation. Intimately recorded, with every breath and subtlety preserved, this album shows two musicians interacting at the peak of their abilities. The music moves beyond labels like "free jazz" or "new music", creating something fresh, something exciting, and something that resonates in our time.