Four Compositions (GTM) 2000 cover

Four Compositions (GTM) 2000

Anthony Braxton

Recorded

2000

Released

2001

Braxton composes using a variety of highly codified systems, but he always grants tremendous latitude to the members of his ensembles; they can improvise freely, or quote other compositions of his while performing, etc. Ghost Trance Music, a system he came up with in the mid-’90s, yielded surprisingly melodic and appealing results. Four Compositions (GTM) 2000, recorded with pianist Kevin Uehlinger, bassist Keith Witty, and drummer Noam Schatz, has a lurching, bouncing swing reminiscent of Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch; its long, somewhat beboppish eighth-note melodies, and Braxton’s extended solos, are laid atop constantly shifting but still steady-enough-to-follow rhythmic foundations.