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Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instrument family. He soon settled primarily upon the alto saxophone and the flute. He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard Abrams before leaving to tour with a gospel band. He later served in the Army, where he played with a rock band. Upon his return to Chicago he rejoined fellow AACM members Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall, forming a trio which would eventually become the group Air, one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed avant-garde jazz groups of the 1970s and 1980s. In the meantime, Threadgill had moved to New York City to begin pursuing his own musical visions, which explored musical genres in innovative ways thanks to his daringly unique group collaborations. His first group, X-75, was a nonet consisting of four reed players, four bass players and a vocalist. In the early 1980s, Threadgill created his first critically acclaimed ensemble as a leader, Sextett. The group actually had seven members: Threadgill, two drummers, bass, cello, trombone and trumpet. The seven albums the group recorded feature some of Threadgill's most accessible work, notably on the album You Know the Number. During the 1990s, Threadgill pushed the musical boundaries even further with his ensemble Very Very Circus. In addition to Threadgill, the group's core consisted of two tubas, two electric guitars and a drummer. With this group he explored more complex and highly structured forms of composition, augmenting the group with everything from latin percussion to French horn to violin to accordion and an array of exotic instruments and vocalists. By this time Threadgill's place amongst the upper echelon of the avant-garde was secured, so prolific in fact that he was signed by Columbia Records for three albums (a rarity for musicians of his kind). Since the dissolution of Very Very Circus, Threadgill has continued in his iconoclastic ways with ensembles such as Make A Move, Zooid and Flute Force Four. Although Threadgill's musical roots are in jazz, the blues and gospel music, he is considered to be one of the premiere "creative" or avant-garde composers in music today. His compositions are truly American, often representing a melting pot of musical genres; at any given time you may hear cleverly mixed elements of traditional African music, Latin music, folk music, New Orleans brass and opera in addition to his more obvious influences.
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Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship
by Giuseppe Segala
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 ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill: Listen Ship
by Giuseppe Segala
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 ...
Continue ReadingSmith / Bro / Gilmore, Henry Threadgill, Brad Henkel & Enrique Haneine
by Maurice Hogue
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, ...
Continue ReadingThe Trio with Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer and Dafnis Prieto at the Jazz Gallery
by Paul Reynolds
The Trio with Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, and Dafnis PrietoJazz Gallery New York, NYFebruary 25, 2024 For a team of titans --two recipients of MacArthur Foundation “genius grants," plus a Pulitzer Prize winner--The Trio keeps a low profile, even within the jazz community. Perennially busy as leaders, authors and educators, Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, and Dafnis Prieto perform together only occasionally and are yet to release a recording, Even bootleg performances on YouTube are scarce ...
Continue ReadingEasily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music
by Eric Gudas
Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life In Music Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards403 pagesISBN: #9781524749071Alfred A. Knopf 2023 In the early 1970s, Henry Threadgill--composer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, inventor of the hubkaphone, Vietnam veteran, and all-around Proteus (in Ovid, the god “who always changes") of Black music and culture-- encountered Yusef Lateef backstage and approached him for some advice on switching between wind and reed instruments. The elder musician's answer wasn't encouraging: ...
Continue ReadingJazzfest Berlin 2023
by Giuseppe Segala
Haus der Berliner Festspiele Quasimodo Jazz Club, A-Train Jazz Club, Berlino 2-5.11.2023 C'era più di un buon motivo per stimolare quest'anno la decisione di raggiungere il Jazzfest Berlin: primo tra tutti, la presenza di un grande protagonista come Henry Threadgill, che giunto sulla soglia degli ottant'anni, con alle spalle una vicenda artistica di valore assoluto, dopo essere stato insignito del Pulitzer Price for Music nel 2016 per il suo album In for a Penny, ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill: The Other One
by Giuseppe Segala
Giunto sulla soglia delle ottanta primavere, Henry Threadgill non lascia sbiadire la propria splendida vitalità creativa. Lo ha fatto quest'anno sia con la pubblicazione dell'imperdibile autobiografiaEasily Slip into Another World, che con una nuova realizzazione discografica, The Other One. Pure questa imperdibile, si colloca tra i lavori che lo hanno visto impegnato esclusivamente come compositore e direttore dell'ensemble, non in qualità di strumentista e solista, sulla traccia dei precedenti Old Locks and Irregular Verbs, del 2016, e Double ...
Continue ReadingJazzfest Berlin 2023: Spinning Time
Source:
Berliner Festspiele
The 60th edition of Jazzfest Berlin provides a space for music that is playful and intuitive and brings together different generations in 36 projects. Coming generations are at the centre of the action right from the start: even before the festival opens, the Jazzfest ImproCamp will offer children an interdisciplinary approach to improvisation from the beginning of the second week of the autumn holidays and during the festival. And two children’s choirs from Berlin will perform in the opening of ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Henry Threadgill
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Threadgill's birthday today!
Henry Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instrument family. He soon settled primarily upon the alto saxophone and the flute. He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Henry Threadgill
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Threadgill's birthday today!
Henry Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instrument family. He soon settled primarily upon the alto saxophone and the flute. He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard ...
read more
2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert to Take Place Virtually April 22, 2021
Source:
All About Jazz
Join the celebration of the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters as the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, presents a virtual tribute concert in honor of Terri Lyne Carrington, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Henry Threadgill, and Phil Schaap (2021 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy). The 2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will take place on Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and actor Delroy ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Henry Threadgill
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Threadgill's birthday today!
Henry Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instrument family. He soon settled primarily upon the alto saxophone and the flute. He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Henry Threadgill
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Henry Threadgill's birthday today!
Henry Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instrument family. He soon settled primarily upon the alto saxophone and the flute. He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard ...
read more
Music Education Monday: A master class with Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Threadgill
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Since saxophonist and composer Henry Threadgill recently won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for music for his composition “In for a Penny, In for a Pound," this seems like an opportune Music Education Monday to share with StLJN readers a video master class with him. Threadgill, 72, is a Chicago native who's been creating innovative music since the 1970s with a variety of ensembles, notably the trio Air with bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall; Very Very Circus; the seven-member ...
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