Originally issued in 1993 in a 4CD version boasting multiple weaves through Braxton's compositions, recorded both live and in the studio, this reissue gives you the studio material with the promise that the live performances will be re-released next year. Back in 1991 this was Braxton's working group and, with releases spilling out on numerous labels, most notably Leo Records, this is one of the most documented periods of this most documented of musicians. Braxton's monumentalism – never issue one CD where six will do – can prove a stumbling block to the uninitiated, but the 130 minutes of music presented here can be appreciated on its own terms, away from the totality of whatever else the group was doing. The temperament of Braxton's music, though, can be difficult to judge. For all his roots in the full spectrum of New Thing saxophonists, from Ornette to Coltrane and Ayler, and not to mention his fellow AACM musicians, Braxton's music remains objectified and, someone less charitable than myself might say, chilly. But a certain degree of detachment is necessary given Braxton's structural methods: one composition transforming into another either through sudden juxtaposition, over-layering or through fragmentation. By this point, the quartet had been together for seven years and they knew how this music operated, but never in the sense of becoming a repertory band. From the security of this knowledge comes greater flexibility and the ability to pursue Braxton's structures to their limits. Braxton/Crispell/Dresser/Hemingway was one of the pinnacles of 1980s/1990s jazz; this is a record to return to again and again.