Biography
Saxophonist Charles Brackeen commands legendary status among admirers of the expansive lineages of spontaneously created music that emerged in unbroken succession after the bold innovations of Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, John Tchicai, Charles Tyler, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Julius Hemphill, and Sam Rivers. His tonal approach, reminiscent of John Gilmore’s, reflects an unwavering focus on vibrant, emotionally layered improvisation that has never earned adequate recognition or more than scattered remuneration for his artistic contributions.
Oklahoma-born on March 13, 1940, he resided briefly in Texas before relocating to California in 1956. Piano and violin studies preceded his permanent commitment to the saxophone family. Engagements with vibraphonist Dave Pike and trumpeters Art Farmer and Joe Gordon led to encounters with more forward-leaning players including pocket cornetist Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins. He also encountered, collaborated with, and wed pianist Joanne Grogan; the couple raised four children, settled in New York in 1965, and later divorced. By the release of his debut album in 1968, Brackeen had matured into a robust-toned tenor and alto specialist who would later exhibit exceptional facility on soprano saxophone, evoking Pharoah Sanders on that instrument. The Strata East recording Rhythm X reunited him with Cherry, Haden, and Ed Blackwell for a collective improvisation session that honored the legacy of their mentor Ornette Coleman.
Brackeen resurfaced in 1973 on Cherry’s Relativity Suite alongside Dewey Redman, Frank Lowe, and Carlos Ward, sharing affinities with each of those powerfully expressive reed players. His subsequent recording chance came in 1975 when violinist Leroy Jenkins, another Relativity Suite participant, enlisted him among seventeen instrumentalists—primarily Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians members—for the album For Players Only. Issued under the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association like Cherry’s project, Jenkins’s debut as leader featured Anthony Braxton, Dewey Redman, Leo Smith, and Jerome Cooper, underscoring Brackeen’s place within such an accomplished circle and confirming his enduring allegiance to uncompromising creative music.
Live documentation from May 1976 captured Brackeen within trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah’s sextet; a compelling excerpt appeared on Volume 3 of the celebrated Wildflowers: New York Loft Sessions, issued on LP in 1977 by Douglas/Casablanca Records. During that era Abdullah, Brackeen, drummer Roger Blank, and bassist Ronnie Boykins belonged to the collective ensemble Melodic Art-tet. Brackeen served as featured soloist on Paul Motian’s 1977 ECM album Dance, a trio date enriched by David Izenzon’s bass viol. Motian recalled him in 1979 for the more expansive ECM follow-up Le Voyage, now with bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark. That same year Brackeen joined bassist William Parker’s ensemble for the audacious free-jazz outing Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace. In February 1980 Charles Brackeen and Ed Blackwell performed as a duo at Soundscape on 52nd Street in New York City; two selections surfaced in 1999 on the DIW anthology Live from Soundscape: Hell’s Kitchen.
The subsequent phase placed Brackeen’s horns beside Byard Lancaster within Ronald Shannon Jackson’s newly established Decoding Society, where he invested his strongest energies in the group’s inaugural releases Eye on You (1980) and Nasty (1981). Another recording opportunity arrived in 1987 through a short yet fruitful association with the Silkheart label. Beyond three albums issued under his own name, Brackeen participated in sessions with Texas trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and His New Dallas Sextet, which also included trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, reedman Douglas Ewart, bassist Malachi Favors, and drummer Alvin Fielder, Jr. Several of those musicians appeared on Brackeen’s first Silkheart album, Bannar. The remaining two titles, Attainment and Worshippers Come Nigh, were captured in a single day and paired him with cornetist Olu Dara, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Given the modest scope of Charles Brackeen’s overall discography, a comprehensive reissue of his work as both leader and sideman could eventually foster a considered re-evaluation of his entire career.
Oklahoma-born on March 13, 1940, he resided briefly in Texas before relocating to California in 1956. Piano and violin studies preceded his permanent commitment to the saxophone family. Engagements with vibraphonist Dave Pike and trumpeters Art Farmer and Joe Gordon led to encounters with more forward-leaning players including pocket cornetist Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins. He also encountered, collaborated with, and wed pianist Joanne Grogan; the couple raised four children, settled in New York in 1965, and later divorced. By the release of his debut album in 1968, Brackeen had matured into a robust-toned tenor and alto specialist who would later exhibit exceptional facility on soprano saxophone, evoking Pharoah Sanders on that instrument. The Strata East recording Rhythm X reunited him with Cherry, Haden, and Ed Blackwell for a collective improvisation session that honored the legacy of their mentor Ornette Coleman.
Brackeen resurfaced in 1973 on Cherry’s Relativity Suite alongside Dewey Redman, Frank Lowe, and Carlos Ward, sharing affinities with each of those powerfully expressive reed players. His subsequent recording chance came in 1975 when violinist Leroy Jenkins, another Relativity Suite participant, enlisted him among seventeen instrumentalists—primarily Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians members—for the album For Players Only. Issued under the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Association like Cherry’s project, Jenkins’s debut as leader featured Anthony Braxton, Dewey Redman, Leo Smith, and Jerome Cooper, underscoring Brackeen’s place within such an accomplished circle and confirming his enduring allegiance to uncompromising creative music.
Live documentation from May 1976 captured Brackeen within trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah’s sextet; a compelling excerpt appeared on Volume 3 of the celebrated Wildflowers: New York Loft Sessions, issued on LP in 1977 by Douglas/Casablanca Records. During that era Abdullah, Brackeen, drummer Roger Blank, and bassist Ronnie Boykins belonged to the collective ensemble Melodic Art-tet. Brackeen served as featured soloist on Paul Motian’s 1977 ECM album Dance, a trio date enriched by David Izenzon’s bass viol. Motian recalled him in 1979 for the more expansive ECM follow-up Le Voyage, now with bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark. That same year Brackeen joined bassist William Parker’s ensemble for the audacious free-jazz outing Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace. In February 1980 Charles Brackeen and Ed Blackwell performed as a duo at Soundscape on 52nd Street in New York City; two selections surfaced in 1999 on the DIW anthology Live from Soundscape: Hell’s Kitchen.
The subsequent phase placed Brackeen’s horns beside Byard Lancaster within Ronald Shannon Jackson’s newly established Decoding Society, where he invested his strongest energies in the group’s inaugural releases Eye on You (1980) and Nasty (1981). Another recording opportunity arrived in 1987 through a short yet fruitful association with the Silkheart label. Beyond three albums issued under his own name, Brackeen participated in sessions with Texas trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and His New Dallas Sextet, which also included trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, reedman Douglas Ewart, bassist Malachi Favors, and drummer Alvin Fielder, Jr. Several of those musicians appeared on Brackeen’s first Silkheart album, Bannar. The remaining two titles, Attainment and Worshippers Come Nigh, were captured in a single day and paired him with cornetist Olu Dara, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Given the modest scope of Charles Brackeen’s overall discography, a comprehensive reissue of his work as both leader and sideman could eventually foster a considered re-evaluation of his entire career.