Anthony Braxton, Milford Graves, William Parker – Beyond Quantum

Anthony Braxton, Milford Graves and William Parker are quite literally three of the most important virtuoso instrumentalists in new music, each a vivid conceptualist as well an influential composer/perf o rm e r. This intense improvisational outing features them at their best: excited, inspired and in complete communication. Recorded and mixed by musical alchemist Bill Laswell, sparks fly in this important and historic meeting of creative music masters. TZADIK KEY SERIES "So John Zorn comes into DMG a few months ago and says, "I have some exciting news! Tomorrow I go to Laswell's studio to record your friend Anthony Braxton with Milford Graves and William Parker!" All of us here at DMG were amazed to hear this news and now the disc is here and in our hands. It is quite extraordinary and perhaps one of the best CD's of the year! Avant drum legend, Milford Graves, performs live and records on very rare occasion. This is the first time that he has worked with either Anthony Braxton or William Parker, but you wouldn't know that from listening to this incredible recording. The overall sound here is magnificent, perfectly balanced and all of the elements flow just right. Mr Braxton is in incredible form as he balances between two streams, his more spiritual side and his more fractured note side. Those distinctive fractured notes actually remind me of Roscoe Mitchell (an old collaborator of Braxton's) or John Zorn (no doubt influential to John's early sax explorations). William Parker keeps up a constant flow of cosmic ideas on his trusty contrabass, organically connecting with Milford's ever-swirling layers of drums. Milford Graves is something else entirely. He is one of the grand-masters of rhythmic dialogue. Milford keeps up a constant flow of spinning layers, weaving a web that brings everyone he plays with closer together, closer to the source of true inspiration. Anthony chooses one reed at a time and explores each fully before moving on. Alto sax, sopranino sax and bass or concert bass sax are all utilized. On "Second Meeting," Milford uses his voice for a bit and thus adds another layer to the thread. While Braxton plays some amazing sopranino, Milford spins magically underneath occasionally using his voice as punctuation and speaking in tongues of his own universal language. There is one section where Anthony and William both play reeds (a double reed for Parker) at the same time and some real sparks start to fly. This entire disc is magic music, perfect for those just beginning their journey into the world of "free jazz" or those who have listened to these explorations for many years." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG - 6/25/2015