Abraham Adzinyah/Anthony Braxton: Duo (Wesleyan) 1994

In Anthony Braxton's vast catalog of recordings dating back almost 60 years, he has worked in so many different environments from large orchestras to quartets as well as solo, but much of his oeuvre has thrived on duo recordings, live and in the studio.  None of his collaborations, however, are quite like this one, released by Leo Records in 1995, with the Ghanian percussionist, ethnomusicologist and instructor, Abraham Adzinyah.  For nearly a half-century, from 1969 to 2016, Adzinyah taught at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where Braxton was a colleague from 1990 to 2013.

The meeting of these musical masters is remarkable because Adzinyah is, of course, not a jazz drummer or percussionist, but this actually provides a palette that presents Braxton with a different way to improvise.  This is hardly an issue, as it might be for others, because Braxton is uniquely situated in jazz because of his omnivorous openness in musical expression to develop his playing in sync with his playing partners.  Adzinyah creates rhythms and colors in his performance that support his fellow musician while also demonstrating his keen understanding of using percussion in a way that makes Braxton's music sound less formal and forbidding than it often is.

This is also a live recording at Wesleyan, so there is the nature of working in that environment, though there isn't audience reaction included.  There aren't any, to this listener's untrained ears, any real structure in terms of a melodic theme or rhythmic development; it sounds as if the two simply walked on the stage and began playing—whether any rehearsals were undertaken is an interesting question.  With Adzinyah providing accompaniment, with occasional solo performance, Braxton utilized his usual broad array of reed instruments, exploring a wide dynamic range.

Braxton's duets with drummers, like the incomparable Max Roach, usually yield power and heaviness, while his work with guitarists, bassists, keyboardists and others provide other avenues for his expression of all kinds.  Perhaps a somewhat relatable example of difference, as with Adzinyah, are Braxton's recordings with Richard Teitelbaum, in which the accompaniment is strikingly unusual, but also highly stimulating.  This album really stands out amid Braxton's incredibly prolific and distinctive oeuvre and was certainly a pleasure to discover!