Anthony Braxton - For Alto

Originally released as a two-LP set in 1969, For Alto is 73 minutes of unaccompanied saxophone solos by a young musician issuing just his second recording under his own name. Solo saxophone was then a rarefied tradition in jazz. Coleman Hawkins had done it once in the 1940s and Sonny Rollins in the '50s. More to the point, Eric Dolphy and Jimmy Giuffre had done it a few times in the early 1960s. Braxton was being more than brash, however, and doing something very different. He was applying fresh structural concepts to sustain extended improvisations, and he was exploring John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as the jazz tradition, to mark a new direction in the avant-garde.

Forgoing the "energy music" school, Braxton was exploring silence, noise, and forms of serialism with an analytical, almost sculptural, approach to sound. Each piece here explores a different approach or set of materials. There's buzz-saw saxophone on "To Composer John Cage," while "To pianist Cecil Taylor" is heartfelt blues that delves back before bebop for its sources. Tracks 5 and 6 are breathy, extended improvisations, the former exploring pianissimo understatement, and the latter developing elliptical complexity, with both drawing on and redirecting the jazz-ballad tradition. The concluding piece, nearly 20 minutes long, builds dialogue from contrasts between brittle, abrasive overblowing and the merest suggestions of notes. For Alto is one of those rare works that point to new possibilities, and it's been one of the most influential recordings of the past 30 years. It remains brilliant, challenging--perhaps even daunting--music. --Stuart Broomer Amazon.com

Is this music? Does avant-garde mean junk?

I can't believe people would actually listen to this. I would rather listen to a cd of people farting. Just terrible. You could train a monkey to play an instrument like this. December 30, 2008

No-holds-barred honkin'and squealin'

Intense, uncompromising solo saxophone. This is not the kind of music to provide background for a dinner party, as Mr. Braxton demands your full attention. May 24, 2007

Ground-breaking experiment; most works, some doesn't

Anthony Braxton's For Alto is an amazing recording. It is a series of pieces, or sketches, of different people who have had a meaning in Braxton's life. And just as each person you have known well has had made a different kind of impact, so to does each different piece. It is interesting to guess what that impact might be. Tracks 5 and 6 are haunting, breathy, sparse, ballad-influenced pieces. To me itseemed as if the people for whom these pieces are dedicated had calm, simple, beautiful relationships with the master saxophonist. Track 4, for Cecil Taylor (my personal favorite) is a showcase for not only boundless technique, but astonishing energy...two things Cecil is known for. Track 2, for John Cage, shows some of the radical concepts and ideas Braxton absorbed from the avant-garde composer. And so on.

Obviously this album is groundbreaking. Others had done unaccompanied solos before...Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy (a personal favorite) and one or two others, but Braxton was the first to program an entire album of them, each exploring a different venue of free jazz. And he inspired a whole host of others to try their hand at the same thing, most notably Evan Parker's excursions on the soprano saxophone. As an experimental album, most of it is simply breathtaking. Tracks 3-6 deffinitely deserve close, concentrated, repeated listening.

Unfortunately, like many experiments, not all of it "works." While I would deffinitely not call 2, 7 and 8 "failed," they seem to me to be dead ends, both creatively and stylistically. Honks, buzzes, screeches and the like are very effective ways of furthering the musical vocabulary, and I'm all for them. However, often these same sounds are almost unintelligible. While I am not one to claim music or art need necessarily be pleasing, it should at least be understandable. If you can't make yourself understood, you are just babbling to yourself. On these tracks Braxton seems to be groping in the dark, struggling to find a new outlet of worthwhile things to say...but in the end it really doesn't lead to anything.

That said, For Alto is a very important album, and despite my qualms about three of the pieces, I give this album 5 stars for concept, vision, tracks 3-6, and historical importance. All experienced jazz listeners need to give thie album a try at some point, so why not now? It is, at the risk of sounding pretentious, a "human portrait," as it were, not just of Braxton, in sound rather than paint. Some of it is ugly and jarring, but most of it is beautiful and powerful...just like life. This should be in any jazz lover's collection. August 7, 2005

Beautiful noise...

When you first glance at this CD your first impression is more than likely "boring". When you look at the stats- 1 alto saxophonist, 73 minutes... the odds are definitely not in Mr. Braxton's favor. While this beast of an album is intimidating, if you have an open mind (most people who listen to jazz should), you will find a full-length cd full of sounds and silence, all simply incredible.

As other reviewers have noted, a number of these songs are noise. Some people will find this annoying, while others will find it attractive. To myself there is something trancelike about the wandering curiosity and sheer emotion of the screeching and rolling and honking. In 'John Cage' you are taken on an exhausting roller coaster ride, as Braxton rolls through unknown scales and exceeds higher registers where the sound of him breathing into the saxophone is heavier than the saxophone itself. Some of the noise is downright scary. Kenny McKenny and Leroy Jenkins have to be some of the most frightening songs to listen to, but they are truly incredible. It's great to hear Braxton really exploring the unheard sounds of the saxophone at length. It is almost like a drug... at first its almost overwhelming, but as you contine to be exposed to it you become desensitized and it really takes effect.

The remainder of the tracks are equally as stunning if not more so. Ann and Peter Allen is a quiet, solemn meditation that uses heavy silence. Truly amazing. Susan Axelrod is a sort of more intense variation of it. The rest of the songs are the best for casual listening, great free improvisations loosely based on certain scales. Cecil Taylor is very bluesy, probably my favorite track.

This recording shows, at an incredibly young age, Braxton was already a master of the concept of improvisation, and more importantly the alto saxophone. In the course he makes his sax wail and scream, cry out gently and faintly, and create beautiful tones. You will gasp for breath after this exhaustingly good 73 minutes, and probably want to play sax. August 1, 2005

Landmark recording.

Anthony Braxton's "For Alto" is one of the most bold recordings ever made-- Braxton, who was extremely new on the scene, recorded a double LP (73 minutes worth) of solo alto saxaphone performances.

The music on here is impressive-- most so because without any net whatsoever, Braxton largely manages to hold together and produces something absolutely amazing.

The music on here is a number of things-- aggressive, angry, explosive, but also tender, lyrical and melodic. It is not for everyone, you have to be able to accept that it lacks all conventional touchstones, but I suspect if you're reading this review at all, you'll want to hear it. May 4, 2005

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