At 79, Anthony Braxton shows no signs of slowing down. After 55 years of pushing the boundaries of music through composing, performing, and teaching, one might expect the avant-garde saxophonist to retire and enjoy the title of dean of free music. But Braxton, a trailblazer in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), is far from finished. His latest release, Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022, a 4-CD live recording, stands as a stunning culmination of his lifetime of work, building on his revolutionary musical structures and expanding into new sonic territories.
The album, recorded in four European cities—Vilnius, Antwerp, Rome, and Bologna—features Braxton performing on a variety of saxophones (alto, soprano, and sopranino) alongside an exceptional lineup of fellow saxophonists: James Fei (alto and sopranino), Chris Jonas (alto and tenor), and Ingrid Laubrock (soprano and tenor), with André Vida (baritone, tenor, soprano) joining for the Vilnius performance. These four concerts form the basis for this ambitious, genre-defying work, which combines live saxophone quartet performances with the addition of electronic textures—a recurring theme in Braxton’s evolving sound.
The Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022 release is essentially a sequel to Braxton’s earlier 10-CD set, 10 Comp (Lorraine) 2022 (Tri-Centric/New Braxton House, 2024), recorded in 2021. This earlier set marked the introduction of Braxton’s new “Lorraine” syntax, a fresh musical language that Braxton has spent years developing. His work with electronics, particularly in collaboration with late avant-garde composer Richard Teitelbaum, has been foundational to this new phase. Their collaborations, such as Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974) and the live Duet: Live at Merkin Hall (1996), were early explorations of Braxton’s interest in electronic music, a realm in which he continues to innovate.
The music on Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022 is not for the faint-hearted. It demands focus and mental engagement, yet it is not aggressive or confrontational. Instead, it unfolds in a way that feels like an exploration into the unknown, akin to the astronaut traveling through the Star Gate sequence in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. These saxophone quartets, propelled by electronics, could easily serve as a soundtrack for that iconic moment in the film—a journey through sound into a new dimension.
What sets this work apart is the balance between structured composition and improvisational freedom. Each piece is meticulously crafted, with Braxton’s compositions allowing space for the musicians to explore alternative paths while still maintaining the integrity of the original structure. The interplay between the musicians, from single-note phrases to rapid, dexterous runs passed between players, creates a mesmerizing texture. Braxton further subverts traditional norms by inverting the roles of the instruments, with saxophones playing sustained notes while other players create dense, fast-moving lines underneath.
The sonic landscape of Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022 is dense and varied, with Braxton’s use of electronics creating ethereal, almost quantum-like superpositions within the music. This “sound wavefunction” is like the music itself is being painted onto a canvas, similar to the radical abstraction of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings—so far removed from classical music theory that it feels like a different realm entirely.
Braxton describes his approach as Tri-centric music—a concept based on three foundational geometric shapes: the circle, the rectangle, and the triangle. These shapes, he believes, reflect the ancient musical structures that have influenced global traditions. Lorraine music, however, represents an evolution of this model, a music that “takes flight” above the Tri-centric structures in the same way clouds are separate from the earth. The Lorraine music, he says, is a representation of breath, wind, and ethereal space.
Listening to Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022, one immediately senses the otherworldly, ethereal nature of the music. There is an underlying tension in the compositions, a nervous energy that is as cerebral as it is provocative. For instance, the opening of Composition 436 presents a soundscape of eerie electronics, with saxophone lines darting about in robust, multi-note expressions. The music shifts in odd, unpredictable ways—from single-note lines to intricate multi-player improvisations. Later, in the fourth movement, the saxophones mimic the sounds of birds flocking together, creating repetitive yet unique patterns before suddenly falling silent, a startling pause in the sound arc.
The second movement of Composition 437 introduces bluesy slides, even hinting at kazoo-like timbres as the piece unfolds. In the third movement, Braxton uses electronics to create expansive, evocative soundscapes that evoke limitless space. Composition 438 offers more complex textures, with the saxophonists engaging in a musical dialogue that feels both fragmented and unified, followed by syncopated lines that suggest Stravinsky-like flutters.
The fourth movement of Composition 439 is a chaotic, free-form exploration that morphs from piercing abstract notes into a solitary saxophone’s long, stretching tone. The fifth movement demonstrates what Braxton calls “genetic identity,” where fragments of earlier compositions are repurposed, recalling his past works with his Performance quartet and Basel quintet from the late 1970s.
Listening to these compositions, one wonders what Braxton will tackle next. In a recent interview, he discussed his desire to continue evolving his Tri-centric model, pushing further into uncharted territories, such as sound tunnels or sound caves, while also expanding into operatic and sonic genome projects. Braxton is driven by a deep desire to replicate the entirety of reality through his music. “Time is running out,” he says, reflecting on the limits of his own life. “Just because I am poor, it does not mean that I don’t have great dreams. I’m grateful to be alive. I have work to do for the rest of my life! I want to evolve myself. I want to evolve my work.”
Though the future of Braxton’s work remains limitless, one can only hope that the world will have enough time to explore the vast soundscapes he is creating. Even so, Sax Qt (Lorraine) 2022 offers a glimpse into a mind and a musical world that is constantly evolving. It’s a journey into the unknown, one that invites listeners to imagine along with Braxton—taking his vision of sound and making it their own. Highly recommended for those willing to embrace the avant-garde and explore music in its purest, most innovative form.
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