Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 4

When in August 1997 the Anthony Braxton Ninetet performed live at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, the methodology he called Ghost Trance Music still contained elements of its "first species" stage, in which the primary rhythmic pulse was generated in honor of the First Nation Native American drum ritual tradition. Although by this time Braxton's Ghost Trance Music had been evolving for little more than two years, greater systematic variability is evident throughout the intricate and complex "Composition N. 213" and "Composition N. 214," which may reflect GTM's other primal influence, the Indonesian Shadow Puppet Theater tradition. Braxton, who handled eight different woodwinds, was joined by five multi-reed players, two of whom also played flutes: Brandon Evans, James Fei, Jackson Moore, Andre Vida, and J.D. Parran. Most of them, including the leader, were equipped with bass clarinets. The rest of the nine consisted of electric guitarist Kevin O'Neil, bassist Joe Fonda, and multi-percussionist Kevin Norton. This is the Braxton Ninetet's fourth and final recording made during that five-day engagement at Yoshi's in 1997. Afterwards Braxton appears to have taken a well-deserved break that lasted for many moons. The next recordings listed in the Braxton discographical chronology involve two different trios and "three shifting orchestras" during a two-day intensive session that took place at Wesleyan University in April 1998. ~ arwulf arwulf|