ANTHONY BRAXTON & PETER BROTZMANN FEATURED ON SPIRITS REJOICE & APPEARING AT THE 2020 BIG EARS FESTIVAL

The music of Anthony Braxton and Peter Brotzmann will be the focus
of a special radio program on Spirits Rejoice Tuesday March 10.
Rare solo concerts as well as ensemble sets by Anthony Braxton and
Pater Brotzmann will be a prime feature at this year's Big Ears Festival
in Knoxville, Tennessee. The festival will run from Thursday March 26
through Sunday March 29. At this, the 2020 Big Ears Festival:
Multi wind instrumentalist and composer Anthony Braxton will be featured
in a rare solo set as well as his Diamond Curtain Wall Trio and a world premier
of an 11 piece ensemble named Thunder Music Ensemble. Braxton will celebrate
his 75th birthday in June and has planned these performances in celebration.
Anthony was born in Chicago and quickly aligned himself with the AACM
organization there, alongside such visionaries as Muhal Richard Abrams and
Roscoe Mitchell. Braxton is a pioneer of solo saxophone work beginning with his
much acclaimed "For Alto" LP in 1968. He has gone on to work with almost
every group combination ranging from duos to full orchestras. Through his work
as music professor at Wesleyan University he has mentored such rising artists as
Taylor Ho Bynum and Mary Halvorson.
Multi wind instrumentalist Peter Brotzmann may be most well known for his huge sound
and exploratory improvisations on tenor saxophone but has created rich tapestries of
sound on various saxophones, clarinets and taragato, a rarely heard Hungarian reed
instrument. At 79 years of age, Brotzmann joins the festival and begins a tour of the US
from his home in Wuppertal Germany. He began early on in Wuppertal with the legendary
bassist Peter Kowald and worked extensively with free jazz greats such as Fred Van Hove
and Han Bennink. His popularity seemed to explode with great projects in the 90's,
particularly his Chicago Tentet with Ken Vandermark and others as well as his Die Like a Dog
groups with Toshinori Kondo, William Parker and Hamid Drake. Braxton and Brotzmann
appeared together in a trio with pianist Borah Bergman on the 1997 recording "Eight by Three"
on the Mixtery label.
You can tune in to 89.3 fm or whfr.fm to hear the works of Anthony Braxton and Peter Brotzmann
on the Spirits Rejoice program Tuesday March 10 from 7-10pm Eastern Daylight Time.