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A co-worker had tickets to the same music festival as me this past weekend, so it got us talking about music. I learned that music is something that he is very knowledgeable and very passionate about.

He seemed to have a fairly diverse range of likes, but it was clear that he has more obscure tastes me. Not necessarily different tastes (since we were going to the same show) but for example, conversations about bands he liked often sounded like this;

Me – who else do want to see this weekend?
Him – Ok, so you know Bob Stevens?
Me – No,
Him – oh, ok, well, it’s his son’s band

He seemed to know about every live music venue in Chicago, including the little bar across the street from my old apartment. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he told me about some of the best basements for hearing live music in the city.

He had also heard of every record store that I could think of. Even small DJ record shops that I used to frequent back when I was into that game. He’s heard of it all. And he understands a lot more about music and sound dynamics than I do (which is not saying much.) When he briefly discussed sound recording with the tech guy who came in to repair our computers (based on the tech guy’s reaction) it certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about.


There are people who take contract attorney work very seriously, and there are those who don’t. He and I both fall into the latter, so I asked him what he did for a living before getting into this profession.

It turns out that his last job was making a documentary film about a four concert series at the Iridium in NYC, performed by the great Anthony Braxton. His film was made into a DVD that was included in the six disc box set of the live performances. He had been a fan of Braxton for a long time, he’s traveled to see him play, and attended some of his lectures.

Braxton rarely performs in the US, and when he does, he almost never plays four consecutive shows with this type of ensemble. So when my co-worker heard about the four shows, he approached Braxton and suggested the idea of documenting the experience. Braxton agreed.

Since my co-understands the intricacies of Braxton’s music, he suggested that he be the one to film it so that he could convey it’s finer points to the viewer. Braxton agreed to that as well.

My co-worker bought a couple of cameras, went to New York, and filmed the four shows. He took the raw footage from the show and some raw footage from one of Braxton’s lectures. The footage was condensed, edited and made into a documentary.

My curiosity about Braxton was heightened, so I asked where I could listen to some of the music. He said that there was a trailer of his documentary on youtube. This is it.