Hi Tyler, my name is Alexander and a friend who knows how much jazz is a part of my life recommended your stubstack to me --so glad to have found your writing! I am a long time fan of Henry Threadgill (I bought my first album of his in the 80's and I just picked up his first recording, X-75, Vol. 1, in Chicago a couple weeks ago, which completes my years long collecting of his entire lp + cd discography!
Anyway, I really appreciate all you've written about Pi Recordings, as they are unsung heroes of contemporary innovative jazz, akin to Giovanni Bonandrini's Black Saint in the 80's. Deep bow of gratitude to Seth and Yulan for all they do.
Out of my love for Threadgill's music and for anyone is just discovering or deepening their exploration of Threadgill's ouvre, I want to add to what you've written and give a shout out to his pre-Pi discography. I'm with you on how incredible his acoustic zooid quintet is now --I saw them perform a couple years ago in Chicago and it was truly mesmerizing! Also, because Threadgill's composing and arranging is so integral to his music, I love to hear all the different instrumentation he's arranged for and played with in the 80's & 90's. So what follows is a chronological breakdown of his groups post Air up to the present.
After Threadgill's trio recordings with Air/New Air in the late 70's - early 80's, Threadgill developed a sextet with his alto/flute and trumpet, trombone, cello, bass, and drums --These are all incredible, with personal favorites including his three Novus recordings from '86-'88: You Know the Number; Easily Slip Into Another World; and Rag, Bush and All (not to leave out the three leading up to these, which are also top shelf!).
Then, in the early and mid 90's, as you've mentioned, Threadgill added electric instrumentation for his Very Very Circus, which included his alto/flute with double-electric guitar, double-tuba, trombone + drums. These adventurous septet recordings are also incredible to hear! Next, from 1997 to about 2001, Threadgill's Make A Move quintet featured arrangements for alto/flute, guitar, bass + drums, with alternately accordion, vibes, or cello. The handful of recordings he made during this period, which crossed over into his first Pi Recording sessions, are also all terrific!
And finally, more recently, from 2001 to 2012 his current Zooid has featured alto/flute, guitar, trombone/tuba, cello or bass, and drums. These recordings you feature above, all of which display the most incredible blend of musicianship, innovative composition/arrangements, and mind-reading interplay. And of course Threadgill is still evolving, what with his Ensemble Double Up, for which he composes but does not play: double-piano, double-alto, cello, tuba, and drums, or his larger 12 piece Henry Threadgill Ensemble & his 14/15 kestra: AGG.
Threadgill's flag should be raised high! I'm just cracking his book and am excited to spend time with him :)
Hi Tyler, my name is Alexander and a friend who knows how much jazz is a part of my life recommended your stubstack to me --so glad to have found your writing! I am a long time fan of Henry Threadgill (I bought my first album of his in the 80's and I just picked up his first recording, X-75, Vol. 1, in Chicago a couple weeks ago, which completes my years long collecting of his entire lp + cd discography!
Anyway, I really appreciate all you've written about Pi Recordings, as they are unsung heroes of contemporary innovative jazz, akin to Giovanni Bonandrini's Black Saint in the 80's. Deep bow of gratitude to Seth and Yulan for all they do.
Out of my love for Threadgill's music and for anyone is just discovering or deepening their exploration of Threadgill's ouvre, I want to add to what you've written and give a shout out to his pre-Pi discography. I'm with you on how incredible his acoustic zooid quintet is now --I saw them perform a couple years ago in Chicago and it was truly mesmerizing! Also, because Threadgill's composing and arranging is so integral to his music, I love to hear all the different instrumentation he's arranged for and played with in the 80's & 90's. So what follows is a chronological breakdown of his groups post Air up to the present.
After Threadgill's trio recordings with Air/New Air in the late 70's - early 80's, Threadgill developed a sextet with his alto/flute and trumpet, trombone, cello, bass, and drums --These are all incredible, with personal favorites including his three Novus recordings from '86-'88: You Know the Number; Easily Slip Into Another World; and Rag, Bush and All (not to leave out the three leading up to these, which are also top shelf!).
Then, in the early and mid 90's, as you've mentioned, Threadgill added electric instrumentation for his Very Very Circus, which included his alto/flute with double-electric guitar, double-tuba, trombone + drums. These adventurous septet recordings are also incredible to hear! Next, from 1997 to about 2001, Threadgill's Make A Move quintet featured arrangements for alto/flute, guitar, bass + drums, with alternately accordion, vibes, or cello. The handful of recordings he made during this period, which crossed over into his first Pi Recording sessions, are also all terrific!
And finally, more recently, from 2001 to 2012 his current Zooid has featured alto/flute, guitar, trombone/tuba, cello or bass, and drums. These recordings you feature above, all of which display the most incredible blend of musicianship, innovative composition/arrangements, and mind-reading interplay. And of course Threadgill is still evolving, what with his Ensemble Double Up, for which he composes but does not play: double-piano, double-alto, cello, tuba, and drums, or his larger 12 piece Henry Threadgill Ensemble & his 14/15 kestra: AGG.
Threadgill's flag should be raised high! I'm just cracking his book and am excited to spend time with him :)
Cheers!
Thank you Tyler. Just seeing this. Your kind words are appreciated.
FANTASTIC article. I listened to Poof while reading it. Henry is truly a national treasure!