AMERICAN MUSIC SERIES                                                                                    94a

Anthony Braxton

with Benjamin Graves

Wesleyan University

April 28, 1993

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Side a                                                                                                                        p. 1-11

informational background; early years, south side of Chicago--emergence of rock and roll, do-wop--influenced by Ahmad Jamal, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Haley and the Comets, Smokey Robbins--begins music with clarinet/saxophone--Wilson Jr. College; meets early members of Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians--discovers hard bop--joins Army to escape family; stationed in Highland Park, IL--attends Roosevelt University--joins AACM;1966-69 music takes increasingly more important role in his life--becomes interested in modern Europeans’ music--1966-69 with AACM develops school to connect music with community--questions the meaning of African-American, jazz and function of the artist--moves to Paris--joins musicians’ community who are exploring responses to the six restructural cycles of music--returns to NYC; lives with Ornette Coleman, unhappy with cliques and lack of communication between musicians--devotes himself to a life of chess; hustling in Washington Square Park--reacquaints himself with Jack DeJohnette, Leroy Jenkins and Chic Corea--Braxton becomes increasingly recognized as an object of complexity in jazz community because of his interests in non-African American music--moves back to Paris; excluded from the intellectual circle of the African Americans--meets Nikki Braxton; moves back to America--contract with Arista Records--experiences the complexities that befall one who wants to operate outside of the defined categories--destitute in New Haven--joins faculty at Mills College--moves to Wesleyan University .

Anthony Braxton

With Libby Van Cleve

February 20, 2009

Middletown, Connecticut

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Side b                                                                                                                                    pp. 1-27

The impact of new technology--spiral of history opening new opportunities in politics and African American musical identity--preference for post-war musics--dominance of New Orleans music on concept of African American music--introduction to Western art music--Ives, Honegger, Henry Threadgill--negotiation of black identity--Bill Cosby, "Theo and the Joint"--connection to Europe--criticism of his work--study of philosophy-- Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians--composite modernism vs. traditionalism in African American music--antebellumness and the African American music experience--African American relationship to Europe and history--religion and music--Josef Ben-Jochannan--respect for Duke Ellington.

Side c                                                                                                                                    pp. 27-49

Duke Ellington and "jazz"--misappropriation of religion--slave trade--Obama--his tri-centric music system--shapes/compositional diagrams--musical reality--offensive cartoons and his politics--2008 US presidential campaigns--hearing sound as color and shape--improvisation, musical notation--the "friendly experiencer"--his graphic and coded work titles--archiving/losing his work--family complexity--Cage's influence--Gordon Mumma--respect for Neely Bruce--Cage's compositional attitude--Cage attends his concert.

Side d                                                                                                                                    pp. 49-62

Feelings for opera--introduction to opera through Wozzeck--Tri-Axium Writings--Trillium operas--hard-working role models--relationship to Wagner--collaborations--MacArthur award--academia as financial stability--relationship with Nickie Braxton--tri-centric music description--future works--twelve houses for friendly experiencer to navigate.