Derek Bailey & Anthony Braxton

The Profile

Derek Bailey (1930–2005) was an English pioneer of free-improvisation guitar. Anthony Braxton (born 1945) is an American composer and multi-reedist. Together, they formed a notable duo within free improvisation and avant-garde jazz, documented on various duo recordings and concerts.

They are key figures in free improvisation and avant-garde jazz. The reviewed album Improvisation (a Bailey solo recording) was recorded in Milan in 1975 and features 14 short, unaccompanied improvisations.

One review dives into Derek Bailey’s solo album Improvisation, praised as uncompromising free improvisation. Recorded in Milan in 1975, it features 14 brief, stark pieces. The writing is vivid, metaphor-heavy, and celebratory of atonal, arrhythmic guitar explorations. Overall sentiment: enthusiastically positive.