Brilliant Corners Done Brilliantly

Anthony Braxton doing some straight jazz

There is some Anthony Braxton I really like. This album, Six Monk’s Compositions (1987), was my first introduction to his playing, and it is superb. I like the music of Thelonious Monk, and Braxton on tenor sax takes it to a height of beauty that stands out to me. Especially track one, “Brilliant Corners,” highlights Braxton’s virtuosity on tenor as much as it does Monk’s virtuosity as composer. Even the title is Monkish, with words left out, left to the imagination, much as Monk would do when playing piano. As the character Lisa Simpson once said of a jazz saxophonist, in the long-running television show, The Simpsons, to a bemused Homer, “Listen to the notes he’s not playing!”

https://tidal.com/album/203664477

http://open.qobuz.com/album/qmw7fg3zlwytc

Sorry about not making these active links. I’m on my phone and I’m not able to create the links.

On this album are Buell Neidlinger (bass), Billy Osborne (piano), and Mal Waldron (drums), in addition to Braxton. They work together impeccably, with Osborne’s Monkish piano stylings and tone (is he playing an upright?) adding the keystone to the recording. Braxton’s rapid flurries of notes, punctuated by the only occasional screech, give a vibrant energy to it. Neidlinger’s bass is something I would call “friendly.” It’s cheerful throughout. Waldron’s drums are energetic and ever changing, with variations on the jazz ride cymbal and snare that keep the mystery of what’s to come, alive.

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kdHyjl0XdcYtDiqRzTR_tc30KRd8ywVEg&si=EOUOAN_sDMW1LIcF

Again, apologies if the links aren’t clickable.

Happiest listening to a great quartet!