Saxophonist/composer/sound artist Briggan Krauss attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music performance in 1992. While in Seattle he met and worked with many great musicians, many of whom he still works with today (Eyvind Kang, Robin Holcolmb, Mike Sarin, Skerik and Bill Frisell to name a few), and he also began his long association with Wayne Horvitz when he joined his legendary avant electric group "Pig Pen". In 1994 Briggan moved to Brooklyn, New York where he still lives today.
Besides leading his own projects, Briggan is a founding member of the legendary group "Sex Mob" and has performed and recorded with musicians such as John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell, Skerik, Eyvind Kang, Robin Holcomb, Anthony Coleman, Madeski Martin and Wood, Skuli Sverrisson, Jim Black, Ikue Mori, Joey Baron, Kato Hideki, Satoko Fuji, the New York Composer’s Orchestra and many others.
As a studio musician Briggan can be heard on several recordings by artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Trey Anastasio, Joan Wasser, Antony. Briggan has also participated in several shows produced by Hal Willner including tributes to Neil Young, Doc Pomus and Leonard Cohen which featured artists such as Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Laurie Anderson, Beth Orton and Cat Power among many others.
Briggan has made records as a leader on Knitting Factory Records, self-released records of sound art compositions and has appeared on over forty other recordings as a sideman.
While at Cornish College of the Arts, Briggan studied electronic music and advanced theory with composer/professor Jarrad Powell. Briggan was always fascinated by electronic music and the process of working on music in the studio. In 1999 “Descending to End”, a solo studio project, was made over the course of nine months and received excellent reviews by the music press. All compositions and performances are by Briggan Krauss.
Reviews of "Descending to End"
”...and it’s that unclassifiable, almost impossibly weird quality that makes this disc one of the most compelling releases of the year. A thoroughly unique artistic vision is on display here, and it’s one to which listeners, not to mention fellow musicians with any aspirations toward continued artistic validity in the twenty-first century, should pay close attention to.”
-Phil Freeman, AP (Alternative Press), April 2000.
“Young heavyweight modern jazz saxophonist/improviser/free-thinker Briggan Krauss offers the willing listener a maniacal digital scan or electronic portrait of a creative mind on the loose with this new release…For the uninitiated, Krauss possesses one of the astute intellects modern music as he often propels his technical and artistic abilities to the limits of perception. Descending To End transcends even the most outlandishly surreal electronic outings this writer has heard in recent years.”
-Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz, April 2000.
“I’m not normally one to rave, but this Briggan Krauss thing is something special. In fact, it’s gigantic. Powerful. Uncompromising. An apocalyptic document for the end of an era and the birth of a new one…Krauss likes to use visual metaphors to describe his music. Listening to his new disc, that’s not hard to understand. Little balls of fire pass through a distorted lunar landscape skirting howling animals and swirling windstorms…It’s not easy listening, and not for the weak of heart. Is it jazz as we know it? Hard to tell, though that’s clearly where Krauss's origins are. Could it be a link to the jazz of the future? Most definitely yes.”
-Nils Jacobson, All About Jazz, April 2000.
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