The Music of Anthony Braxton: (Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance) [Hardcover]

Mike Heffley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0313299560 | ISBN-13: 978-0313299568

For three decades, Anthony Braxton has been alternately celebrated, dismissed, and attacked for his musical innovations. His ambitious efforts to reconcile and personalize the historically divergent and often conflicting worldviews and principles of African-American (jazz), American Experimental (post-Ives), and Western European (post-serial) traditions have attracted both loyal supporters and passionate critics. Mike Heffley has followed Braxton's widely varied music from its beginning, and in 1988 began a professional musical relationship with him. His "biography" of Braxton's music is just that--a look at the music as if it were a living entity, with a traceable ancestry, a describable place in the world, and a history full of drama, intrigue, and passion. The music scholar will find here all the information necessary to understand the contents, contexts, and concepts of Braxton's music, and to further that understanding. The general reader will find the human and trans-human qualities that make the music so compelling to its makers and lovers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is such an unprecendented and remarkably visionary book that it seems unfair to categorize it. Incited by Anthony Braxton's music, Heffley accepts the challenge by going wherever it takes him. His interrogation of Braxton's work is irresistible, and every page dares the reader to keep up with him, whether to the beginnings of civilization or to the outer reaches of space. Though it is as ambitious as The Road to Xanadu--J.L. Lowes' exploration of the secrets which lie behind Coleridge's poetry-- I know of nothing quite like this extraordinary book.”–John Szwed, Yale University

About the Author

MIKE HEFFLEY is a trombonist/composer, journalist, arts administrator, and ethnomusicologist.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (May 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313299560
• ISBN-13: 978-0313299568
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,319,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars While tough reading, it is the best book about Braxton yet., September 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Music of Anthony Braxton (The Excelsior Profile Series of American Composers) (Paperback)

This is the most thorough examination of Braxton's music and the various contexts from which it emerges. It is the only book to date that very successfully explores the mystical side of Braxton, and Heffley does so with clarity, integrity, and genuine respect for Braxton. Because of its ambitious nature, this book is probably not the best place to begin when studying Braxton. But its ambitous nature has also created a book that matches the ambition of its subject matter, i.e., Braxton himself. This is essential reading for Braxtonians.