Braxton to Teach Drummer/Composer Tyshawn Sorey

Drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey will take an extended break to study composition with “avant-garde avatar” Anthony Braxton, professor of music, in a master’s program at Wesleyan.

According to a July 2009 article in Time Out New York, Sorey shares an earnest, seeking quality with Braxton, who also has upset convention, particularly in terms of what kind of music African-Americans schooled in jazz are supposed to make.

“Quiet as it’s been kept,” Sorey says, “people would tell me to my face that this is not like ‘real’ black music. To me, it’s a very serious problem.”

Sorey has had stints with headstrong leaders like Dave Douglas and Steve Coleman, saxophonist Steve Lehman and pianist Vijay Iyer.