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For Alto

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Anthony Braxton recorded For Alto in 1969, in the basement of the Parkway Community Center in Chicago. The album was released in 1971 on Delmark Records. He plays everything on alto saxophone, with no other musicians and no overdubs. Other jazz musicians had occasionally recorded an unaccompanied solo, but this was the first jazz album to consist entirely of solo alto.

Braxton was inspired by the piano music of Schoenberg, Fats Waller and Stockhausen, but found his own piano playing too weak and therefore created a language of his own for the saxophone. After a solo concert in 1967 in which he ran out of ideas after ten minutes, he mapped out elements such as long tones, trills and multiphonics as a springboard for improvisation. He called this Language Music. The first reactions were divided: some found it revolutionary, others an ego trip. Later the album was recognised as a milestone, and it inspired other saxophonists to make solo albums.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to To Composer John Cage and notice how a single saxophone alternates long tones, fast flourishes and silences, without accompaniment.

Track list

  1. 1Dedicated to Multi-Instrumentalist Jack Gell0:43Apple Music ↗
  2. 2To Composer John Cage9:31Apple Music ↗
  3. 3To Artist Murray De Pillars4:18Apple Music ↗
  4. 4To Pianist Cecil Taylor5:19Apple Music ↗
  5. 5Dedicated to Ann and Peter Allen12:54Apple Music ↗
  6. 6Dedicated to Susan Axelrod10:24Apple Music ↗
  7. 7To My Friend Kenny Mckenny10:06Apple Music ↗
  8. 8Dedicated to Multi-Instrumentalist Leroy Jenkins19:47Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗

Categories: Albums and songs