Braxton had long been fond of working with improvising wind ensembles. In fact, the earliest incarnation of what would become the World Saxophone Quartet appeared on his landmark Arista album, New York, Fall, 1974. So his collaboration with the ROVA quartet … came as no surprise... Two pieces are by ROVA members, while one long work, "Composition 129 (+ 40F + 40O)," is by Braxton. The opening cut, Larry Ochs' "The Shopper," is an aggressive, rhythmic piece, with a staccato line forming a sold basis for solos by all members. Jon Raskin's title piece is more lush, with a relaxed counterpoint tossed back and forth beneath the solos and rich harmonies reminiscent of Julius Hemphill's beautiful arrangements for the World Saxophone Quartet. The composer does some very beautiful and rich baritone work on this piece, and the group improv sections are imaginative and compelling. The Braxton composition is knotty and compelling, filled with written passages having only a nodding acquaintance with jazz traditions but also including a couple of sections where faint glimmers of Ellington and a hint of march-time can be discerned. It's a testament to the musicianship of the ROVA band that they are capable of negotiating this intricate piece not only with mastery but humor as well. The Aggregate is a challenging recording, more so than most by more jazz-oriented saxophone quartets, but very rewarding on its own terms and an important document in Braxton's work for woodwind ensembles. --- Brian Olewnick , All Music
credits
released September 4, 2018
Bruce Ackley: soprano saxophone, Bb clarinet
Anthony Braxton: contrabass, bass, baritone, tenor, alto, soprano, and sopranino saxophones
Larry Ochs: tenor, alto, and sopranino saxophones
Jon Raskin: baritone and alto saxophones, Bb clarinet
Andrew Voigt: tenor, alto, and sopranino saxophones, flute
Track 1 by Larry Ochs, Track 2 by Jon Raskin, Track 3 by Anthony Braxton
On Composition 129+ see artist credits above
On The Aggregate
Braxton-lead alto / Raskin-baritone / Ochs-tenor / Voigt-alto / Ackley-soprano
On The Shopper
Ackley-soprano / Voigt-alto / Ochs-tenor / Raskin-baritone / Braxton-bass
Tracks 1 and 3 recorded live at Koncepts Cultural Gallery, Oakland, CA on July 30th, 1988
Track 2 recorded live at PreEchoes 2 in San Francisco, CA on August 22, 1986
Digital recording for both sessions by Robert Shumaker
Cover art by Doug Hall
Mastered at Studios Bauer, Ludwigsburg, in August 1989 by J. Wohlleben
Fire House Records has a catalogue of outstanding releases and this fits the bill perfectly by the sound of this initial track...there is power here and, yes, an irreverence for any kind of safety net...tremendously committed ensemble playing on display... John Cratchley
I am not surprised at how good this is. Thumbscrew are terrific and Anthony Braxton's music is always interesting and moving in different directions. I can not stop listening to this. The recording itself is so well done. It is a deep sound to crawl inside. liclon
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Total mastery of patience, time, and drama create a constantly engaging journey that never gets tiresome or same-y: in fact the harder you listen the better it gets! Somehow Sorey et al. find a way to combine the deep listening and spontaneous interaction of the best jazz with the sense of every tone and sound being worth a universe of listening, which could be equally from Cage and Feldman or the accompaniment to an ancient ritual.
The recording/engineering is absolutely perfect as well. Giles
I really appreciate that with such a large group of musicians the overall sound and experience of listening is really spacious, never cluttered. The lovely recording helps that a lot, and of course the compositional aspects that make it breathe are superb- it gets more and more fun as I listen again and again. Jasper Skydecker