The first thing one notices about Infinite Love, Infinite Tears—the latest album by jazz alto saxophonist/flutist/composer Alan Braufman—is that it’s rich with melody and harmony. More to the point: They are hummable, hook-filled melodies (the playful and aptly titled “Chasing a Melody”) and consonant, seductive harmonies (the intoxicating “Edge of Time”), and they’re predicated on hard-driving swing and other infectious grooves (the slapping funk of “Spirits”). It’s certainly not most people’s idea of a free jazz album. But then, Braufman reminds us, free jazz isn’t supposed to conform to anyone else’s idea of what it should sound like. That’s the whole point.
“What is free jazz? That’s a deep question,” he says. “I think free music is supposed to be about doing what you want. It’s like asking, ‘What is non-conformism?’”
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
It’s certainly difficult to impeach Braufman’s free jazz credentials. The native Brooklynite was one of the pillars of New York’s “loft jazz” scene of the 1970s, perhaps the peak of the avant-garde’s impact and visibility in the jazz world. Braufman was one of the proprietors (along with saxophonist David S. Ware and pianist Cooper-Moore) of the seminal 501 Canal Street loft, where he recorded his debut album, Valley of Search, in 1975.
Though he spent much of the next 40 years out of New York, touring with the likes of Carla Bley, the Psychedelic Furs, and Philip Glass, he has experienced a creative resurgence in the past few years. Recent collaborators include tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, clarinetist/vocalist Angel Bat Dawid, and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan (who plays on Infinite Love, Infinite Tears). If anyone livaing knows what free jazz is, it’s Braufman.
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
He makes a distinction between free and “free,” with the latter being the general public’s preconception of the music. “Too often, ’Free’ jazz has been associated with just screaming,” he says. “But if I feel like doing a tune that’s not ‘free,’ shouldn’t free jazz mean that I’m free to do that? That’s the album I wanted to make. There’s not a lot of screaming on it, but harmonically and form-wise, it’s pretty free.”
To mark the May release of Infinite Love, Infinite Tears, we asked Braufman to apply his ear for the free (which sometimes is also “free”) to the Bandcamp library and pick out some of his favorites. Here’s the music that’s recently been in his ears.
David S. Ware
“Prayer”
Compact Disc (CD)
This tune is the soundtrack to a particular time in Braufman’s life. “Myself, David Ware, and Gene Ashton—who’s now known as Cooper-Moore—we all moved in 1973 into this building, 501 Canal Street, which was in what’s now Tribeca,” he says. “We were doing the whole “free” thing, just getting together and blowing the roof off. But then David started to write, and I think the tune ‘Prayer’ was one of the first he wrote. This band, Apogee [with Ware, Cooper-Moore, and drummer Marc Edwards] was birthed at 501 Canal, and I used to hear them playing this tune at all hours. David was just a beautiful writer and a beautiful player.”
Immanuel Wilkins
“Free Blues”
“This track shows you just where free playing can go,” Braufman says, “because there’s no melody in it. It’s just free improv from the beginning and the flow of ideas just doesn’t stop until he decides to stop. When free improv is in the hands of a master like that, it’s a pleasure to listen to. And as a saxophone player, Immanuel Wilkins checks every box: gorgeous tone, technique is flawless, ideas are so creative, composition is great. He’s got everything he needs: a super musician.”
Rob Brown
Oblongata
Compact Disc (CD)
“[Alto saxophonist and flutist] Rob Brown is somebody that people need to hear,” Braufman says. “He’s such a fine player! Every time I listen to him, I’m floored. I’m a tone person; if I don’t like somebody’s sound, I don’t want to listen to the notes they play, but if I love somebody’s sound, they can come play a major scale and I’ll listen to it because of the tone. Rob has a gorgeous tone, and on Oblongata he matches it with great ideas and intensity.”
Bobby Zankel and Wonderful Sound
A Change of Destiny
“I’ve known Bobby since the early 501 Canal Street days in the early ‘70s, and again, I don’t think he’s as well-known as he should be,” Braufman says. “This album is so ambitious, man. There’s so much ambitious writing, mixed with wonderful solos. One of the interesting things is that Bobby is on alto sax, and Jaleel Shaw is on alto also, but even with two altos, they’re such different sounds, it’s obvious who’s playing what and when.”
Steve Lyman
Spiral
“Steve is a good friend of mine, and this is such an unusual album that just totally impressed me,” Braufman says. “I’m not a big fan of drum solos; that being said, this is an album that’s almost a 50-minute drum solo and it’s one of my favorite records I’ve heard in a long time. Every tune on it is completely different than the previous. It’s so varied and so creative in what it does with such a minimal setting.”
Patricia Brennan
Maquishti
2 x Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
For Braufman, Maquishti falls in the same bucket as Spiral. “It’s a solo vibraphone for the whole album,” he says. “But Patricia is so varied. And I keep thinking as I listen to this one that it’s very cinematic-sounding, very visual in the style of a wonderful film score. The atmosphere she creates is beautiful. But she’s also incredibly versatile. Listen to the sextet she’s got now: It’s nothing like this album, it’s hard-driving jazz. She’s a very special musician, a very natural talent.”
