The
James R. and Susan Neumann Jazz Collection presents
 |
| the neUmann DIGITization project |
Beginning in fall 2013,
we’re giving interested students the chance to choose an LP to digitize from
the ca. 50,000 jazz-related recordings currently in the Neumann Jazz Collection and then to answer a few brief questions about their
experience. If you’d like to be a part
of the project, you can find out more information here.
Today our post is by Adam Hirsch (OC
’14), who chose the 1970 album For Alto by Anthony Braxton
(Delmark DS-420).
Why in general did you
want to be a part of this project?
I personally collect a
lot of vinyl recordings and convert them to a digital format at home; so having
the chance to apply that love of records and knowledge of the relevant
technology to a collection this comprehensive is a really special opportunity.
It feels like I’m working with the materials of an entire history, and helping
to preserve that history in a very small way.
Why did you choose
this particular record?
I’m also a saxophone
player, and I have a very specific interest in the ways in which the instrument
has been used in experimental music and the avant-garde. Anthony
Braxton is a hero in this field: he was one of the first players to experiment
with a lot of the extended techniques you hear on For Alto, and it’s hard to find another saxophonist who so fluidly
merges these new techniques and free improvisation with a refined sense of
lyricism and composition. Braxton continually inspires me to listen in new ways
and to find new approaches to my own playing.
How was this
experience different from simply locating an existing digital version of the LP
on YouTube or Spotify?
This is an original
pressing of this record from 1970. That means that within months of the time
Braxton played this music and recorded it onto tape, Delmark Records pressed
the waveforms into a slab of vinyl, engraving the music into a physical record
of history. That slab of sound is now in front of me, which is pretty
incredible. I think that is something we can often lose with having such immediate
access to digital files online—having the sense of the physical record of the
music, and the fact that we really need to earn the experience of listening to
it.
What musically stood out to you on
the recording?
Despite the fact that
Braxton is at all times the only musician on the record, he achieves an
incredible range of dynamics. His playing is by turns mellow, chaotic, slow,
anxious, organized, entropic, and melodic. He moves between these different
musical feelings with a lot of patience and consideration: repeating phrases,
slowly connecting ideas, throwing in sudden bursts of energy, and so on. As a
solo musician, he has managed to overcome the enormous challenge of keeping the
music engaging and sustaining his focus for long periods of time without the
aid of other instruments or players.
Can other students
listen to the LP now that it’s been digitized?
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