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Anthony Braxton – 3 Compositions Of New Jazz
Delmark 415 [A.A.C.M. Jazz Series] (1968)

Anthony Braxton was first documented as a player in 1967 on Muhal Richard Abrams’ Levels And Degrees Of Light (Delmark 413). Nine months of gestation produced this, his first recording as a leader. Braxton the player/composer/constructor is here at full length; in retrospect he was a much more developed and confident musician than he may have seemed at the time.


Recorded at Sound Studios, Chicago: Track 1 on March 27, 1968; Tracks 2 & 3 on April 10, 1968.

1 840M (Realize) {Composition 6E} (Anthony Braxton) 19:50
2 N/M488/44M/Z {Composition 6D} 12:50 (Anthony Braxton)
Muhal Richard Abrams on piano
3 The Bell (Leo Smith) 10:20
Alto Clarinet, Cello, Piano – Muhal Richard Abrams - Alto Clarinet, Cello, Piano

Anthony Braxton - Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Musette, Accordion, Bells, Snare, Other [Mixer Etc.]

Leo Smith - Trumpet, Mellophone, Xylophone, Percussion [Bottles], Kazoo
Leroy Jenkins - Violin, Viola, Harmonica, Bass Drum, Recorder, Cymbal, Slide Whistle



"While it is not as powerful or as revelatory as For Alto, Anthony Braxton's second album for Delmark, 3 Compositions of New Jazz is his debut as a leader and showcases just how visionary -- or out to lunch depending on your point of view -- he was from the very beginning. Recorded nine months after his debut with Muhal Richard Abrams on Levels and Degrees of Light, Braxton's compositional methodology and his sense of creating a band are in full flower. For one thing, there is no use of a traditional rhythm section, though drums and a piano are used. The band is comprised of Leroy Jenkins on violin and percussion, Braxton on everything from alto to accordion to mixer, Leo Smith on trumpet and bottles, and Abrams on piano (and alto clarinet on one track). All but one track -- "The Bell" -- are graphically titled, so there's no use mentioning titles because computers don't draw in the same way. There is a sonorous unity on all of these compositions, which Braxton would draw away from later. His use of Stockhausen is evident here, and he borrows heavily from the melodic precepts of Ornette Coleman. The use of Jenkins' violin as a melodic and lyric device frees the brass from following any kind of preset notion about what should be done. Abrams plays the piano like a percussion -- not a rhythm -- instrument, and colors the textural figures in, while Smith plays all around the open space trying hard not to fill it. This is a long and tough listen, but it's a light one in comparison to For Alto. And make no mistake: It is outrageously forward-thinking, if not -- arguably -- downright visionary. Braxton's 3 Compositions of New Jazz is an essential document of the beginning of the end." - Thom Jurek - ALL MUSIC GUIDE