Jazz Articles about Henry Threadgill

About Henry Threadgill

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: In For A Penny, In For A Pound

Read "In For A Penny, In For A Pound" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
May 14, 2015

Fresh off his significant contribution to Jack DeJohnette's Made In Chicago (ECM, 2015), composer/saxophonist/flautist Henry Threadgill and his most long-established group, Zooid, return for the ensemble's most creative and ambitious collection. Almost thirty years ago, Threadgill told Chicago's Pulitzer winning writer, Studs Terkel, of the influence of marching bands that he saw in that city's frequent street parades. That influence--along with that of his founding status in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians--are apparent in the adventurous collection ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: In for a Penny, In for a Pound

Read "In for a Penny, In for a Pound" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
May 12, 2015

Don't call this jazz. In a 2013 interview with Larry Appelbaum at the Library of Congress, saxophonist, flautist, and composer Henry Threadgill, in so many words, denounced the association of labelling his music with a diluted categorization. Having performed with free thinking musicians like Muhal Richard Abrams and Anthony Braxton; lead highly regarded and out of the mainstream groups such as Air, Very Very Circus, and currently and arguably his best ensemble, Zooid; Threadgill continues to orbit around forward thinking ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: In For A Penny, In For A Pound

Read "In For A Penny, In For A Pound" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 11, 2015

No artist manages to marry compositional specificity and independent thought to the degree that Henry Threadgill does. And while his singular vision(s) with groups like Air and Very Very Circus have already earned him a place in the history of this music, when all is said and done, his work with Zooid may be his most important contribution to the ever-evolving art form of jazz. On In For A Penny, In For A Pound, Zooid delivers what ...

Live Review

Henry Threadgill: Very Very Threadgill 2014

by Kurt Gottschalk
October 7, 2014

Henry Threadgill Harlem Stage Gate House Very Very Threadgill New York, NY September 27-28, 2014 Henry Threadgill isn't one to repeat himself. In nearly 40 years of recording, he's only repeated a few compositions. So why would a retrospective of his work by a mere recapitulation? Very Very Threadgill--held Sept. 27 and 28 at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse in upper Manhattan--was a tribute comprised of realizations, not reunions. Pieces from the past were ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill Zooid: Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp

Read "Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
August 13, 2012

Non dovrebbe essere una sorpresa per nessuno sentir dire che Henry Threadgill è da almeno venticinque anni (bypassando la nodale esperienza collettiva di Air, quindi) una delle figure-guida del jazz internazionale, seppur meno reclamizzata di altre, a loro volta di indiscutibile statura, ma magari un po' più inclini a lisciare il pelo all'uditorio. Questo nuovo lavoro del chicagoano, ennesima gemma regalataci da Zooid, gruppo nato una dozzina d'anni fa sulle ceneri - si fa per dire - dei gloriosi Sextet(t) ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill: Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp

Read "Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp" reviewed by Troy Collins

by Troy Collins
July 18, 2012

Now into its twelfth consecutive year, Zooid can finally lay claim as Henry Threadgill's longest running ensemble, having superseded the tenures of the venerable composer's most celebrated lineups, including Air, Sextett and Very Very Circus. Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp is the idiosyncratic chamber group's fourth release for Pi Recordings, which was founded in 2001 to simultaneously release a pair of albums by the esteemed AACM multi-instrumentalist: Everybody's Mouth's a Book, by the electric Make a Move quintet; and ...

Album Review

Henry Threadgill: Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp

Read "Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp" reviewed by Mark F. Turner

by Mark F. Turner
June 19, 2012

Henry Threadgill's music is best served neither cold nor hot, but with an open mind. The 68 year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist has endured as one of contemporary music's foremost innovators--a cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a bandleader with over thirty releases, and works with a number of eclectic bands including Zooid, currently his longest running band which includes likeminded acolytes--guitarist Liberty Ellman and tuba/trombone player Jose Davila, among others. Zooid's Tomorrow Sunny ...