In the vast body of work created by Anthony Braxton between the 1960s and present day, Ghost Trance Music stands as a landmark. It is a series of 105 compositions written between 1995 and 2006 that exemplifies the boundless imagination of the Chicagoan multi-reedist and composer, yet the work also speaks of the great depths of American cultural history insofar as its source lies in Native American folklore.
In the late 19th and early 20th century displaced tribes assembled to enact the ritual of a circle dance – or ghost dance – in order to invoke the powerful spirit of their ancestors.
In keeping with the profound, transcendental dimension of the practise, ghost dance consolidated the political agency of a people; it is not hard to see the appeal this would exert on the fertile mind of Braxton, whose immense discography has been defined by works that mould compositional and improvisatory ideas relating to time, space and societal phenomena, challenging many formal orthodoxies. Braxton has devised his own way of notating and titling pieces as well as arranging and performing. As he sought to bring his intellectual rigour and emotional magnitude to the world of sound, Ghost Trance Music proved a potent catalyst. The ritual was known to last for hours if not days, which resonates with the sense of infinity and unlimited possibility that is found throughout Braxton’s output, be it music made solo, in small groups or big bands, using both common and uncommon instruments.
Whether he is blowing contrabass clarinet, F-alto and sopranino saxophone and flute in the company of harps, cornets, guitars, keyboards and tuned percussion, or conducting an orchestra, Braxton’s desire to make us hear the unheard is unrivalled.
In 2020 Belgian guitarist Kobe Van Cauwenberghe played several pieces of the Ghost Trance Music series as a solo project, and he now revisits the project with British turntablist-producer Mariam Rezaei. Each artist has an impressive pedigree in their respective fields, the former as an intrepid composer-improviser who has arranged the music of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, and the latter as a cutting-edge electronic artist who has also worked with George Lewis, one of Braxton’s illustrious colleagues from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Van Cauwenberghe and Rezaei will interpret one main Ghost Trance composition but, true to Braxton’s open form philosophy, this will be a ‘host composition’ for other pieces from his repertoire (284 3rd Species, 358, 249, 120, 108a, 40f, 6f, 69q).
Braxton’s music is characterized by an array of unique timbres as well as complex structures that are germane to his own worldview, creating a distinctive language that is both an endless enigma and a source of inspiration. The combination of Van Cauwenberghe’s six-string gymnastics and Rezaei’s artful manipulation of two decks and a shower of effects will be a gripping manifestation of strong personalities who find common cause in the work of a great 20th century composer-improviser. Ghost Trance Music is expression far beyond all borders. It is present in concert with past, the sound of great spirits channelled through inventive minds in the material world.
Profile by Kevin Le Gendre
The 47th edition of Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, hcmf// 2024, takes place Friday 15 – Sunday 24 November 2024. Tickets for Ghost Trance Duo are on sale now.