Jazz Articles about Henry Threadgill

About Henry Threadgill

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: Cut You Where You Was

Read "Cut You Where You Was" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 19, 2026

In 2001, Seth Rosner resurrected reed man Henry Threadgill's career by establishing Pi Recordings, initially for the sole purpose of releasing Threadgill recordings. Threadgill wanted to put out two albums simultaneously. Rosner said he would have agreed to four if that was what the artist requested. But two it was: Up Popped Two Lips by Henry Threadgill's Zooid and Everybody's Mouth's a Book, by Henry Threadgill & Make A Move. This was a move of genius on Rosner's part. Since ...

Radio & Podcasts

Henry Threadgill, Shipp/Parker, Glass Triangle & Rich Halley

by Maurice Hogue
September 14, 2026

Congratulations to saxophonist / composer / innovator Henry Threadgill & his Zooid band on their 25th anniversary, well-celebrated with the releases of Cut You Where You Was. This is one of Zooid's best. Props also to the tied-at-the-improvisational--hip duo, pianist Matthew Shipp & bassist William Parker for the re-release of Zo, on vinyl for the first time. Oregon saxophonist Rich Halley is back with a new album, A Distant Land; as always, Halley's bands are eminently listenable. Speaking of distant ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Vijay Iyer Dafnis Prieto: Fifteen

Read "Fifteen" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
August 5, 2026

Fifteen is the wildly ecstatic new music from saxophonist Henry Threadgill (who at times seems quite unhinged) and the equally motivated MacArthur Fellowship winners, pianist Vijay Iyer and a souped-up Dafnis Prieto on his respective percussive instrument. A lot of good stuff happens here, from the lead-off quarrel “Trio Piece," wherein Threadgill's flute leads forward his groove- insistent partners, until the freewheeling closer, “On The Way," a freethinker's guide to wonder, powered by a full-on, full trio, rush.

Album Review

Thomas Morgan: Around You Is A Forest

Read "Around You Is A Forest" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
December 2, 2025

Il valore, la sensibilità e la duttilità musicale di Thomas Morgan lo ha portato a essere uno dei contrabbassisti maggiormente richiesti della scena contemporanea. Ora, con questo lavoro, il primo a proprio nome dopo tanta attività nei contesti più differenti, documentata in una copiosa serie di album fondamentali del jazz contemporaneo, Morgan ha deciso di affermare la propria volontà nel tracciare un proprio disegno personale, per dare vita in qualche senso a un lavoro esemplare, che incontri pienamente le proprie ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship

Read "Listen Ship" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
October 27, 2025

As in other recent works, on Listen Ship Henry Threadgill appears solely as composer and conductor. No surprise there: his works vividly showcase a quest for a personal compositional dimension, one that reflects his drive for authenticity while engaging in dialogue, proposing a possible intersection between Black American musical traditions and other musical realms. This is eloquently detailed in his 2023 autobiography, Easily Slip into Another World. A Life in Music, a gem in the realm of autobiographies, where he ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship

by Giuseppe Segala
October 13, 2025

Come in altri suoi lavori recenti, anche su Listen Ship Henry Threadgill compare unicamente in qualità di compositore e conduttore. Nessuna meraviglia: sappiamo che il musicista di Chicago è tra i grandi compositori della contemporaneità. È evidente e ricchissima, nelle sue opere, la ricerca di una dimensione compositiva personale, che ne rispecchi l'impulso di autenticità e nel contempo si metta in dialogo, proponga un incrocio possibile tra musiche di matrice neroamericana e altre aree musicali. Come è dettagliatamente narrato nella ...

Radio & Podcasts

Smith / Bro / Gilmore, Henry Threadgill, Brad Henkel & Enrique Haneine

by Maurice Hogue
October 8, 2025

The masters highlight this edition of OMJ: composer Henry Threadgill leading an ensemble of six guitarists and two pianists through his unique intervallic system on the new Listen Ship, and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in elevated company of guitarist Jakob Bro & drummer Marcus Gilmore on Murasaki, a very strong album. Other new recordings debuting this week come from American ex-pat trumpeter Brad Henkel leading a very strong quartet on Overstory, a Norwegian piano trio led by Liv Andrea Hauge, ...