WOLF EYES & Anthony BRAXTON
“Live At Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023”

Formed 29 years ago (1996) by Nate Young, Wolf Eyes is currently a duo generally characterized as “noise,” though they have called themselves “psycho jazz” (among other things). Extremely prolific, they have literally hundreds of releases and are a towering presence in underground music. Saxophonist Anthony Braxton was an early member of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and has won a MacArthur and been named an NEA Jazz Master, though his work is hardly confined to jazz. He’s also an extremely prolific recording artist, debuting on record in 1968. Braxton famously first heard Wolf Eyes at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville and immediately bought all the band’s CDs that they were selling that night; a year later, they made their first album together, Black Vomit (also a concert recording). Their new untitled album (calling it Live At Pioneer Works, 26 October 2023 is merely a way of helping people distinguish it from their other collaborations and to give it a vintage) is the third Wolf Eyes/Braxton release. The LP has no track titles or even side designations. ESP has tried to keep that same spirit in the other formats.

“Both parties clearly understand what the other stands for and adapt their approaches accordingly. Braxton purists are in for a solid headache, of course, but something really clicked between these artists, and it was all in good fun. As far as Wolf Eyes’ discography goes, this is also one of their best-recorded albums.” –François Couture, All Music Guide, regarding Black Vomit