Anthony Braxton is the creator of a large and rigorously documented discography that is dominated by recordings of his own compositions articulating an ever-expanding individual musical system and architecture. Despite releasing over 300 albums, his music been recorded by relatively few artists. The perceived difficulty in his idiosyncratic methodology may be a reason, but that argument only goes so far: Braxton's music, more often than not, achieves its visionary expression because of the considerable room he leaves for individual improvisers in his sound world.
Tropos is a young North American quintet that came together while studying with Joe Morris at the New England Conservatory of Music. They meet Braxton's music head on with their debut album, Axioms // 75 AB. The group -- vocalist Laila Smith, saxophonist Raef Sengupta, pianist Phillip Golub, bassist Zachary Lavine, and drummer/percussionist Mario Layne Fabrizio -- feature their own work on the front half of the album, followed by readings of five early-'70s Braxton compositions on the back. The album's most compelling feature lies in how well Tropos integrate Braxton's influence and intent in the creation of a unique musical identity. With humor, high-powered energy, sudden radical rhythmic and harmonic shifts, and a kinetic range of dynamics, Tropos enthusiastically traverse the murky terrain between the voices of the soloist and the collective. In drummer Fabrizio's "Of the Trellis," Smith's voice twins with Sengupta's alto, constructing a wordless, sweeping, ballad that unfolds by offering almost whimsical spaces for vocalist, saxophonist, bassist, and pianist to meander toward an explorational center as the collective explodes in a crescendo of drums and sweeping vocals before winding back down to discover an entirely different path. When they take on Braxton, they capture various aspects of his persona and interpret them with the requisite vibrancy distinguishing the composer's versions. They keenly discover how they can musically slip into Braxton's aesthetic, and where he slots into their own. The tight ensemble lines that introduce "23c" embrace 20th century classical music, Frank Zappa, and eventually, bop. "23e" floats along as avant yet elegant chamber music, with a dreamy pianistic narration, smoky alto saxophone, rumbling tom-toms, and Smith's interlocutory vocals, until they reach consensus and chart a more physical direction via an arco bassline that dictates ensemble flow. Of course, they illuminate the other side of Braxton's persona, too, with "40b." It commences with a particularly knotty exchange of staccato sax melody and almost militaristic percussion before emerging with a swaggering group iteration filled with daring harmonic asides. On "40b" they stomp on the gas to showcase Braxton's -- and their own -- humor amid hard angular bop and blues. Issued by the download label Biophilia, Tropos' Axioms // 75 AB is an auspicious debut, filled with exhilarating energy, charisma, and a canny ability to transform the complex and even inscrutable into sophisticated yet joyful noise. Braxton turns 75 in 2020, and one can think of few better gifts than this tribute to his influence.