Results for "Henry Threadgill"

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

Bob Gluck: Early Morning Star

By KARL ACKERMANN

Composer/pianist/electronic artist Bob Gluck's musical repertoire is particularly diverse. Among his many electro-acoustic projects are the borderless duo album Textures and Pulsations (Ictus Records, 2012) with Aruán Ortiz, Tropelets (Ictus Records, 2014) featuring improvisations based on Jewish biblical chants, and Infinite Spirit (FMR Records, 2016) where he pays tribute to Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Band. In the ...

Whither Freedom? Avant-Garde Jazz in the '80s (1978 - 1990)

By RUSSELL PERRY

In the 1980s, the avant-garde, although still home to many fine free jazz players, increasingly adopted an ecumenical approach to historical styles. Freedom came to include freedom to be “in the tradition." The broadly-influenced music of alto saxophonists Arthur Blythe and Henry Threadgill, clarinetist John Carter and pianist Don Pullen illustrate this trend--in this hour of ...

A Jazz Immuno-Booster: Part 6

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

The Jazz Immuno-Booster mixtape series continues. This sixth installment features musical therapy selections by Thana Alexa, Francesco Bigoni, Terri Lyne Carrington, Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Kris Davis, Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura, Alexander Hawkins, Will Holshouser, Ha-Yang Kim, Michael Mwenso, Jessica Pavone, Mark Turner, Happy listening! Stay safe and sane with the help of great ...

A Jazz Immuno-Booster: Part 5

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

Back to popular demand! Here's some more musical therapy for these trying times, the fifth installment of this popular mix-tape series, featuring selections by Tim Berne, Theo Bleckmann, Stefano Bollani, Tommaso Cappellato, Taylor Ho Bynum, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Mats Gustaffson, Maya Keren, Brad Mehldau, Aaron Parks, Rosa Brunello and Ben Wendel. Happy listening! Stay safe ...

AACM: Together We Are Stronger

By CHRIS MAY

With the passing in 2017 of the pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and trumpeter Phil Cohran, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, formed in Chicago in 1965, lost the last two of the four musicians who organised its inaugural meeting. But with two succeeding generations of standard bearers stepping up to the plate, the AACM ...

Liberty Ellman: Last Desert

By MARK CORROTO

Guitarist Liberty Ellman doesn't release many albums as a leader. Last Desert is only his fifth in more than twenty years, and fourth for Pi Recordings, following 2015's Radiate. But that doesn't mean he isn't a busy artist. He can be heard with JD Allen, Jason Robinson, Myra Melford's Snowy Egret, Stephan Crump's Rosetta Trio and, ...

Jazz in the Time of Pandemic

By KARL ACKERMANN

The first week of April 2020: images crystalized the daily news reports; a dystopian Times Square; Piazza Navona in Rome, emptied of tourists, Barcelona's Basílica de la Sagrada Família standing like an abstract ruin, makeshift morgues in hospital parking lots. The jazz world is small but still a microcosm of society with interdependencies that run deep. ...

Four Masters and More

By MARC COHN

After a segment of 21st century music from Andy Fusco, Matt Criscuolo, Wycliffe Gordon and Fred Hersch, we go into celebration mode--saluting Sonny Rollins (with Max Roach) because he IS Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Dave Brubeck (with some gorgeous Paul Desmond on the rarely played 'Jazz Goes To College) on their centennial, and 2020 National ...

Harriet Tubman at SFJAZZ

By HARRY S. PARISER

Harriet Tubman SFJAZZ San Francisco, CA January 23, 2020 The electric bass, electric guitar and drum trio Harriet Tubman stands apart in the music world. As guitarist Brandon Ross notes, they are electrified yet based on spiritual influences such as the late Alice Coltrane, the late John Coltrane's wife who ran ...