RUFFIN: NOW A JAZZ MOMENT 

Composition 110d under

RUFFIN: THOUGH STEEPED IN JAZZ HISTORY, SAXOPHONIST ANTHONY BRAXTON IS FAMOUS FOR PUSHING MUSIC IN NEW DIRECTIONS.

ANTHONY BRAXTON: I was really very interested in trance musics of the Native American Indian. Later, I would go back and study the European trance musics. The Persian trance musics. The African trance. The Asian trance musics. [beat]. All over the planet there are musics which conform to what we call trance music. 

RUFFIN​: BRAXTON USED THIS INFORMATION TO MAP OUT A MUSICAL SYSTEM THAT IS NOT CONFINED TO ONE TIME OR SPACE. 

The aesthetic fulfillment of my system is for all of the compositions to be played at the same time. That's what I'm looking for. A music world that is trans-temporal. That is, it doesn't start, it doesn't end. It is multiple hierarchic in the sense that it's not just coming from one theme; it's not a top-down kind of thing, and can involve many different conductors, many different compositions all at the same time. And the Ghost Trance musics is the ground floor.

Composition 352 up, hot

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH NEA JAZZ MASTER ANTHONY BRAXTON WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

Excerpt of "Composition 352" composed and performed by Anthony Braxton from 9 Compositions (Iridium), used courtesy of FireHouse 12 and by permission of Synthesis Music (BMI).