Anthony Braxton / Ben Opie
Duets (Pittsburgh) 2008
[OMP Recordings]
benopie.bigcartel.com

The 2008 collaboration between Ben Opie, Anthony Braxton, and a slew of Pittsburgh musicians is the gift that keeps on giving.

In May 2008, the legendary composer and saxophonist, Anthony Braxton, visited Pittsburgh to perform in a number of environments with a number of musicians. The weekend trip, dubbed “Braxton Plays Pittsburgh Plays Braxton,” included an Anthony Braxton septet performance at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, two sets at the CAPA school (one by students, one by Pittsburgh musicians), and a collaboration between Braxton, Pittsburgh’s loose Syrinx Ensemble, and the birds at the National Aviary. Listeners were engaged, musicians were challenged, and the weekend proved to be one of the year’s cultural highlights. Two years later, documentation of the weekend is starting to seep out.

The aviary performance was captured on video and is being edited for DVD release. The septet’s set will soon be available digitally. The CAPA set under the name “Three Rivers Tri-Centric Ensemble” will be released on vinyl on local promoter Manny Theiner’s PopBus label. But the first product to make it out the door is a beautiful duo set by Braxton and Opie, unheard by the public until now.

The double CD, titled Duets (Pittsburgh) 2008, features two hour-long pieces, “Composition 220” and “Composition 340” with a few “tertiary” pieces thrown in the middle of each. The names of both pieces are actually diagrams with intersecting images cut from magazines. “Composition 220” combines three items of jewelry with the number 50 and some letters. “Composition 340” deals in train images. Both pieces fall under Braxton’s Ghost Trance Music (GTM) series of compositions, whose writing spanned roughly 10 years.

The main ingredient in the GTM pieces is a string of continuous eighth notes, comprising the “melody that doesn’t end.” All parts are written in “diamond clef” to allow the player to read the notation in any transposition and as any standard clef. This allows the pieces to be played by any number or set of instruments. The idea of the collage is central to GTM performances. Tertiary pieces can be signaled at any time, at which point, the musicians dive into one of the many, many other Braxton compositions. Instructions on how to play, referred to as language music, also guide improvisations.

“Composition 220” is an early example of Ghost Trance Music. After opening with a long, even stream of eighth notes, the piece slowly breaks down with Braxton and Opie varying their spacing, note length, and dynamics. Two “solos” are quickly introduced: After a tense run by Opie, Braxton makes wonderful use of extended breathing, exploring the notes’ outer edges. The eighth notes return with a beautiful, slightly eastern melody, due to harmonizing created by the diamond clef. This is a pattern that repeats itself throughout the piece: eighth notes dissolve into seemingly improvised passages, each one revealing new techniques, new ideas, and new interplay as the players explore each other as well as their arsenal of horns. One of the highlights for many fans might be the double contrabass clarinet section, where both players hang on the bottom of their ranges, overlapping parts to create a dark, shifting floor of sound.

“Composition 340” is loose from the start. Part of it might be the complicated sight-reading that is required for these pieces. Part of it might be that is more fun to get into the thick of it quicker. Halfway through, the sustained tones accumulate more grit as vocal tones allude to the physicality of this music. While both pieces show patience while exchanging solos, unifying on composed parts, collaborating and contrasting on dynamics, the second disc provides more of the fireworks that one might expect from a saxophone duo. Loud, brash runs eventually turn into a drone-based passage as Opie fluctuates and twists a note while Braxton flutters around it, ending in his own circular drone.

Fans of Braxton should be at home with this music. The music is equal parts intelligence and spirit. The hour-long length of the pieces is akin to other GTM recordings, and the playing throughout is inspired and fun. Hopefully, they welcome the new collaboration. Opie’s current and previous work has gone down many different paths. The long-running big band, OPEK, continually enthralls crowds with its mix of Sun Ra, originals, and others. The now-defunct Watershed 5tet was a progressive jazz outfit that blurred out jazz, detailed composition, funk, and chamber music. The Thoth Trio is a slightly more straight-ahead jazz trio. The Braxton/Opie 2xCD is inevitably closer in sound to Opie’s solo sets, which stretch the chops as well as the mind.

While two hours of saxophone duos may sound intimidating, the compositions are crafted to always provide a new avenue for both the listener and the players. With Opie sitting in with the Tri-Centric Ensemble in New York a few weeks ago, there is evidence that this is not the end of the collaboration. May we look forward to many adventurous sessions.