Town Hall 1972

Two of the three pieces on this album are performed by Braxton, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Phillip Wilson. They start with a medley of two pieces with his usual chemical-formula titles, dedicated to Jerome Cooper and Fredric Rzewski respectively, then stretch the standard “All The Things You Are” on the musical dissection table for nearly a quarter of an hour. The saxophonist shifts at lightning speed from bebop-derived melodies to squalling “free jazz” blowing to subtle explorations of pure sound, and Wilson is an aggressive, challenging partner, leaving Holland to glue it all together. The concert’s second half is much different. Wilson is replaced by Barry Altschul, and saxophonist John Stubblefield and vocalist Jeanne Lee join the ensemble for a 35-minute piece that feels at times like an avant-garde opera.