Anthony Lazaro

This project represents a starting point in gently opening up the possibilities of incorporating an element of improvisation into the oeuvre of Bach's chamber music. Given that both Toshi and Anthony are improvising musicians, able and willing to extemporise in a variety of genres (jazz, folk music, early music, etc.), but also being devotees of the repertoire and musical language of Bach, it seemed natural to use certain works of Bach’s as a basis for new invention. The result is a fresh approach to Bach, where improvisation is part of the overall soundscape, whether through ornamentation, basso continuo or entire passages opened up for ‘jamming’. The instrumentation for this programme is also diverse, with Toshi and Anthony using two instruments each; broadening the timbral spectrum. This project is, for them, a crucial way in exploring just how we can be both faithful to the score and true to ourselves as creative musicians interested in mastering this musical language.

Anthony Braxton - Sextet (Parker) 1993 (2018) {11CD Box Set Limited Edition New Braxton House Records NBH907}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.82 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.55 Gb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1993, 2018 New Braxton House Records / Tri-Centric Foundation | NBH907
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

The long-awaited 11-CD box set of Braxton's interpretations of the Charlie Parker songbook. Very limited number of advanced copies. Braxton’s hard-swinging Charlie Parker Project, recorded in 1993 with a brilliant band including two geniuses since deceased—trumpeter Paul Smoker and pianist Misha Mengelberg—expands beyond its original two-CD form into a 11-CD box on New Braxton House, the imprint operated by Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation. The notion of listening to everything in sequence, including numerous versions of the same tunes, admittedly is daunting, but this is a set that you can drop into literally anywhere and be swept away instantly.

Anthony Braxton -12 Duets (DCWM) 2012 (2014) {12CD Set New Braxton House NBH904}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.54 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.53 Gb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2012, 2014 New Braxton House | NBH904
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Creative Music / Experimental Jazz / Saxophone

Several years ago, Anthony and I discovered our mutual (giddy) enthusiasm for the music of Richard Wagner. I feel compelled to mention this because there is a positively orchestral, if not Wagnerian, element to our recording together—a sonic Gesamtkunstwerk, if you will, representing all registers of playing. In each take, new drama unfolds, as if each were a new act in an operatic continuum.