Vandermark 5 - Northstar Bar, Philadelphia, PA 9/28/01
Vandermark 5 - Purcell Room, London 10/22/01 FM
I might have gone in after a first listen to these, both a week or two apart, and mentioned about how close they are in style and sound, but when you look at the dates it’s pretty obvious it’s the same band and era, only about a month apart. Vandermark 5 are clearly what could be called avant-jazz, which usually means jazz with a free or composed element that includes lots of dissonances in it, which tends to be the sort of thing people who listen to this music get used to and don’t think about too much, while newbies get an earful of shrieks and squawks and are often overwhelmed. However the Vandermark 5 strike me as being aware and generally conscious of most of jazz’s history, probably much more than I am, as quotes from various pieces often fly right out of the chaos and bonk one on the head. One thing’s for sure, this band seems to like to have fun and there’s a rather palpable feel to both shows, a slight tinge of delirium mixed in, something a very assured group mind can throw out with a major effect. Yeah, I’ve really got to go and check them out myself.
Anthony Braxton - Stefaniensaal, Graz, Austria 10/28/76 FM
Anthony Braxton Quintet - New Jazz Festival, Moers 5/30/77 FM
Braxton must have 100 albums out by this point, and I’ve only heard a handful, all of which I liked, none of which really floored me, but these two live shows (at least the latter includes Dave Holland and the former sounds like it’s either him or someone comparable) completely fried my brain in the best possible way. I haven’t spent a lot of time in this playground, but I’ve gotten the impression that making guesses as to what’s composed or not is a slippery slope as often, the wildest most out-there cacaphony is quite planned out. But, these shows both feel like they’re at the apex of great musicianship, the almost telepathic interplay of Art Ensemble of Chicago, thorny and complex compositions and not a similar sense or style of musical humor to the later Vandermark 5. Either show will leave you totally exhausted.