Henry Threadgill was born on February 15, 1944... "[...] on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, and grew up surrounded by music of various kinds - classical, jazz, gospel and blues. His extended family included an aunt, who studied classical piano and voice, and an uncle, Nevin Wilson, who played bass in pianist Ahmad Jamal's trio." So starts Threadgill's biography in the 2014 released double CD, The Great Lakes Suites. For further reading, see the liner notes of that record.
He attended Chicago's Englewood High School. After High School, Henry played with Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) marching bands in parades as well as with blues, mariachi, gospel and polka bands. He also enrolled at Wilson Junior College, later renamed Kennedy-King College. (Based on Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians.)
As a young teenager in Chicago, Henry had been listening to all kinds of music from radio and shops. Live music only from churches, as he was too young to go into other places where they were playing live. He could also soon be able to enter rehearsals of the Sun Ra Arkestra with John Gilmore on tenor sax. Some other strong influences on tenor sax from this region were Gene Ammons, Eddy Williams and Clifford Jordan. The visiting Sonny Rollins was another influential tenor sax player. Interviewed by Ted Panken about his influences, Henry also mentions Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis
as probably the most original saxophone player he ever heard in his life with his convoluted sound, which his nickname gossips of. Johnny Hodges was a sound master on alto saxophone and Henry also points out the essential innovations made by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor as beeing inspiring.You will find their stories included in A.B. Spellman's book Four Lives in the Bebop Business, later renamed Black Music - four lives.
You can listen to the convoluted sound of 'Lockjaw' from my recording of the 1976 TV-broadcast of the live session
(surprising good recording quality considering the imperfect technic of that time, cassette tape now digitized):
For Jazz on 3 Henry said: "I used to sit up in front of the Chicago Symphony, man, on the first row. [...] That orchestra was hip. [...] I had an assignment to go hear some music when I was 18, any classical music. So I went down to Roosevelt University, where they had one o'clock concerts on Friday afternoon. (Henry tells a funny story about how he met Arthur Rubinstein on the way in to Roosevelt University.) I heard Rubinstein and all of them at the University of Chicago right on the spot. I met Hindemith and Varese. I heard Berio, all of the contemporary guys. I heard all that music live. Schoenberg, you know I heard all this stuff played live by probably the best players in the world at that time, because that orchestra was hip. That Contemporary Chambers orchestra, they played only the most advanced stuff."
Muddy Waters is often mentioned by Threadgill as another influential Chicago musician. In off-hours from high school, Henry rehearsed with Eugene Hunter's big studio band and proceeded to hang out with his class mates Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell, these three for a time also performing together in a sextet. Another class mate from 1962 and early AACM member was the drummer Jack DeJohnette, together with whom and Roscoe, Muhal and bassist Larry Gray, Henry has made his by now (February 2015) latest, and together with Jack second, record release on DeJohnette's
Made in Chicago. This Special Legends Edition was recorded live from a Chicago Jazz Festival concert in August
2013. The very first together with Jack occurred only 8 months earlier, namely on Wadada Leo Smith's double CD The Great Lakes Suites.
Trailer to Made in Chicago:
Going back to the Panken interview, Henry told that he himself started out as a tenor saxophone player. Tenor sax, baritone saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet. Then he went to flute and at last he came around to the alto saxophone, which later on was to become his main instrument together with his flutes. I want to add that Threadgill has developed a unique sound and way of playing. Sometimes tender, affectionate and loving, sometimes powerful or searing. His expression has become immediately recognizable.
In interviews, as in Lund 1993, Threadgill also gave prominence to the fact that he works in the tradition of innovators like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, who continuously were developing new standards, never reproducing others. For example, Henry has used an interval concept of composition for his later group Zooid, which was going to take hours to explain and in fact took at least a year for the musicians to learn to play.
In her excellent and well informed book As Serious As Your Life, the author Valerie Wilmer remarks about Henry that: "He was active in education since 1963 as music instructor, choir director, etc. Travelling extensively. Records including tracks cut in Venezuela, Trinidad." Personally I feel it interesting with those mentioned tracks, especially if they should have been released somehow. (According to an interview with Steve McCall in CODA Magazine in 1982, Henry was travelling to South America and the Caribbean during a period in 1974-75). It has to be added that Threadgill throughout his career has continued to perform, compose, arrange, instruct, etc.
Jacket photo of Rashied Ali by Valerie Wilmer. The drummer and Henry once performed together in a duo session in the first half of the 80:s.
In the 60:s Henry performed with, and around 1962 created a piece for, the Chicagoan Experimental Band under the leadership of Muhal Richard Abrams. He attended Governors State University and then the American Conservatory of Music (ACM), where he received a degree in flute performance and composition. "I wasn't in those programs to get [a] degree, I was there just to take everything they had", Threadgill later told Gene Santoro.
Another musician drawn to the Chicago Conservatory was the Memphisborn trumpeter Booker Little, rooming for some nine months with Sonny Rollins at the YMCA in the middle of the 50's. Fortunately he could leave a great musical legacy before his untimely death in 1961 at age 23.
Henry toured the U.S.A. with Philadelphia-based evangelist Horace Shepherd in 1963 and 1964. He became an early member of the co-operative AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), which was founded in 1965 with Abrams as it's first president. (A foundation-stone of AACM was for every member to get his own thing, not copying other musicians.) He also toured with gospel singer Jo Jo Morris. In 1966 Threadgill had to leave Chicago for military service, partly serving as a member of the infantry band in Vietnam. Returning in 1968 he joined the AACM big band and the Phil Cohran Heritage Ensemble. (Mainly based on Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians).
Furthermore, in 1969 he was found playing in the house band of the Blue Flame, a 39th Street blues club. "Buddy Guy, Mighty Joe Young, everybody else came through there. We could even play blues outside, as long as we played with conviction", he told Joe Blum in an interview for JazzTimes. He also became involved with various theater and
dance performance groups, which in fact is how AIR got started.
Threadgill commented to Santoro, “Bebop couldn’t service me: it didn’t have anything to do with people standing up for their rights, it didn’t have anything to do with the Vietnam War, didn’t have anything to do with the Gray Panthers, the Black Panthers.”
Viewing his music as “a reflection of social reality,” Threadgill disclosed to Santoro that he is mystified by any revival of traditional jazz: “It’s funny to see a lot of musicians involved with music that’s older than they are... where they’re playing stuff that isn’t relevant today.”
Henry formed, together with bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall, in 1971 a group first called Reflection. The trio began when Threadgill was asked to form a group to play Scott Joplin's music as part of The Hotel, the Don Saunders play produced by Columbia College group at the end of 1971. They followed this up with a ragtime concert at the Univeristy of Chicago. In 1975 he, like many of the other AACM members had done, left Chicago for New
York City, after which the trio was renamed AIR (Artists In Residence). Over the years he continued forming new bands playing his own compositions and arrangements.
He became the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003 and a United States Artist Fellowship in 2008 as well as a 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award. In June 2015, Henry became inducted to the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame, which made him joke about if he was still alive. He appeared to be still more surprised when he on April 18, 2016, became winner of the Pulitzer Music Prize. - What for?, he had asked. For the record 'In For A Penny, In For A Pound'.
His daughter Pyeng Threadgill is a singer and bandleader, who has her own recording career, starting with Sweet Home, the music of robert johnson. In fact the blues also is interwoven in all of Henry Threadgill's music.
"The idea about the blues that's sometimes put forth in institutions and situations similar to what institutions put out, that the Blues has some kind of strict formal structure - it does not. The blues is an internal thing. If one ever really heard the blues, blues had no type of structure until the Blues existed. That is, each piece presented its own development and own structure. It had nothing to do with patterns that's often put forth, that the blues is some 12-bar form or something like that. That's really not true. Not this type of blues. Maybe some type of blues that's gotten to be popular among certain type of musicians. But the blues that I heard that was played on the streets of Chicago and probably played in the country, in the Delta, that blues could take any direction and any form at any time." Henry Threadgill interviewed by Ted Panken.
These and more facts regarding Henry's life and opinions can be found through the Bibliography/Interviews parts. The purpose of this discography, though, is to document the recorded music of Henry Threadgill's different bands as well as his performances as a sideman,
while I generally haven't included in detail records where he has made the arrangements but not been performing.
I have included a selection of live concerts, not released on record so far, but well worth listing for different reasons like extraordinary performances, unusual ensembles, rare tunes or different musicians. Concerts by Threadgill groups AIR (once augmented by Amiri Baraka, recitation), NEW AIR (on these occasions with Andrew Cyrille on drums), the Henry Threadgill Sextett (the earliest including Lester Bowie on trumpet), Very Very Circus, Make A Move, Zooid (even with a string orchestra) and bands like the Windstring Ensemble and Society Situation Dance Band, the last two never commercially issued. These informations are placed in a separate group after the released. Here you will also be able to find some photos and videos interspersed, connected to those items.
Here is a performance by Zooid from the Library of Congress on October 25, 2013.
Note that in the Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians, see the Bibliography part, you will find a Selected list of Commissioned Work and Other Performances. Among them May the Angels Take You into Heaven on Earth for Quintet for Strings and Woodwinds, premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1983 and he didn't give up / he was taken, quartet for baritone voice, violin, alto saxophone, and piano. Text by Thulani Davis. Recorded on Roscoe Mitchell's release Pilgrimage (Lovely Music, 1995). Also, commissioned for the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra in 1993, Mix for Orchestra (Max Roach, soloist; Dennis Russell Davis, conductor).
Additionally, Threadgill has also presented music for dance and theatrical settings. His interest in experimental theater as well as modern dance goes back to the beginning of the '70s. Large interdisciplinary works, such as Thomas Cole, A Walking Dream (The New York Shakespeare Festival, 1985); On Walcott (European tour, 1997; Aaron Davis Hall, NYC, 2001), as well as the provocative collaborative music/theater piece Erotec (The Human Life of Machines), choreographed by Alice Farley, commissioned by the Jim Henson Foundation, and premiered (for six nights) in September 1996 during the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater in New York City.
Henry has also composed a piece called Peroxide for his ensemble Aggregation Orb, premiered on October 22, 2003, at The Miller Theatre, Columbia University. For more details
see.
Furthermore he wrote No Gates, No White Trenches,... Butterfly Effect for American Composers Orchestra as part of the 2010/11 'Playing it UNsafe' series. The world premiere performance of this composition was planned to be at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall in NYC on March 4, 2011.
I have observed a broadcast from a concert with Muhal Richard Abrams quintet in Laren, Holland, 1978. On this performance, made some months after the recording of 1-OQA+19 for Black Saint, Anthony Braxtons reeds are replaced by George Lewis' trombone. A tour de force. More recently, Henry has taken part in a concert in Saalfelden 2012 by The Experimental Band led by Abrams, together with other old members of that ensemble.
In 2017 he has been working on two new ensembles, Double Up Plus, indeed an enlargement of Double Up, and Kestra: Agg, a 15-piece collective going to premiere a new work entitled Dirt... And More Dirt.
Henry Threadgill on His Latest “Jazz Concerto” presented by Michael J. West for Bandcamp on September 27, 2021.
I also have completed several record informations, including all of Henry's as a leader or co-leader, with photos of the sleeves. Some fetched from internet, others taken from my own records, in fact the majority of the LP's.
Finally I have expanded the discography with a list of here included compositions by Henry Threadgill. There is also a composition, Angel Sun, not released on any record but played by AIR Live in Moers on May 29, 1977.
If excluded in the discography items, Primary Source is myself and my collection.
This music is Unidentified title from AIR in Salzburg.
The same tune also appears in the more than 38 minutes long track 1 of the Sextet at Jazzmania. If you know the title of this composition, please tell me!.
Finally it has arrived, in May 2023, Henry Threadgills autobiography Easily Slip into Another World.
A fantastic book. Spellbinding! The best I've read. Ever! And, thinking of all his serious accidents, it's a
fortune he's still alive. But very funny to read. Inspiring and educational. Regarding more than music. Life!
I cropped this photo of Henry Threadgill from a Jazz Times article, September 1983. In his earlier recordings Henry was a multi-instrumentalist, but later he has concentrated himself more on alto saxophone and flutes.
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Official releases
69.07.02 - 69.08.20 / Muhal Richard Abrams: Young at Heart, Wise in Time / Delmark
Keep Right On Playing Thru the Mirror Over the Water [15:30] **)
Be Ever Out [5:40] **)
*) Side A recorded July 1, 1976, at Studio Rivbea, New York. Clark's surname misspelt.
**) Side B recorded October 28, 1977, at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (tenor sax, alto sax, flute, percussion)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (drums, percussion)
Card Three: Trummps Room 201 Bed 3 [not released on this album]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; tenor sax; baritone sax; flute)
Fred Hopkins (bass; maracas; stick)
Steve McCall (drums; percussion)
According to the sleeve notes, one piece of the suit, "Card Three: Trummps Room 201 Bed 3"
(observe the spelling of trummps with two m!), was omitted due to the fact that
the lp couldn't contain one more tune. However, this tune should be forthcoming
on a future recording. I haven't seen that and if someone has more knowledge
about this, I should be very happy to be informed.
Is it perhaps too much to hope for that this excellently recorded, but highly underrated
album, could be reissued on CD with all five cards present? Now it's done, see
"Complete Novus/Columbia Recordings", though still without that extra track.
Frank Walton (trumpet and flugelhorn)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Ari Brown (tenor and soprano sax)
Jodie Christian (piano)
Rudolph Penson (bass)
Ben Montgomery (drums)
Henry Threadgill (tenor sax; alto sax; flute)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (drums; percussion)
Demonstrating not only that ragtime (Scott Joplin) and New Orleans (Jelly Roll Morton) are Great Art consonant
with Contemporary Jazz, but also that they're Corny. And that both Great Art and Corn can be fun. Which is why
the somewhat stiff, if not corny, readings of the themes, especially "King Porter Stomp," don't get in the way.
Although just what could get in the way of Henry Threadgill improvising over an explicit pulse for a whole album
I can't imagine. -Robert Christgau, Consumer Guide Reviews.
July 25 & 28, 1980
Right Track Recording Studios
New York City
The Fast Life [8:53]
The Hill [10:40]
Ming [4:24]
Jasvan [8:48]
Dewey's Circle [6:32]
[All compositions, David Murray]
David Murray (tenor sax; bass clarinet)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Olu Dara (trumpet)
Lawrence "Butch" Morris (cornet)
George Lewis (trombone)
Anthony Davis (piano)
Wilber Morris (bass)
Steve McCall (percussion)
Sonny Sharrock (guitar)
Fred Frith (guitar; violin; vibes)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax solo on 2,6,7)
George Lewis (trombone)
Olu Dara (trumpet)
Billy Bang (violin)
Charles K. Noyes (drums; bells; percussion)
Bill Laswell (4; 6 and 8 string basses)
Michael Beinhorn (synth; tapes; radio; guitar; drums; voice)
Only the LP release, left photo, in my collection.
September 30 & October 1, 1981
Sound Ideas
New York City
Melin [3:38]
10 to 1 [11:25]
Just B [4:12]
When Was That? [10:19]
Soft Suicide at the Baths [11:06]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (flute; bass flute; clarinet; alto sax; tenor sax)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Olu Dara (cornet)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Brian Smith (piccolo bass)
Pheeroan akLaff (drums)
John Betsch (drums)
{Corrections made by Larry Shengold, About Time Records}
Only the LP release, left photo, in my collection.
October 31 & November 1, 1981
Right Track Recording Studio
New York City
Home [5:58]
Santa Barbara and Crenshaw Follies [7:30]
Blues Choctaw [6:80]
Last of the Hipmen [9:12]
3-D Family [8:35]
[All compositions, David Murray]
David Murray (tenor sax; bass clarinet)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; bass flute)
Olu Dara (trumpet)
Lawrence "Butch" Morris (cornet)
George Lewis (trombone)
Anthony Davis (piano)
Wilber Morris (bass)
Steve McCall (percussion)
January 23, 1982
Right Track Recording Studio
New York City
Chicago Breakdown (Jelly Roll Morton) [7:58]
The Traveller (Threadgill) [9:28]
80 ° Below '82 (Threadgill) [8:02]
Do Tell (Threadgill) [9:50]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (trap drums)
On my LP there is a discrepancy in that way that sides A and B are
switched between the sleeve and the record labels. The text on the
sleeve should be correct, with Chicago Breakdown and The Traveller
on side A, as far as I can understand.
Black Saint BSR 0065; 120065-1 (LP); 120065-2 (CD) 1983
July 14, 15, and 19, 1982
Barigozzi Studio
Milano, Italy
Murray's Steps [12:25]
Sweet Lovely [8:00]
Sing Song [9:40]
Flowers For Albert [9:40]
[All compositions, David Murray]
David Murray (tenor sax; bass clarinet)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; flute)
Bobby Bradford (trumpet)
Lawrence "Butch" Morris (cornet)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Curtis Clark (piano)
Wilber Morris (bass)
Steve McCall (percussion)
The Seven Powers (H. Hancock / W. Shorter / Olodum) [7:04]
Uma Viagem Del Baldes De Larry Wright (C. Brown / L. Wright) [3:30]
Olodum (Oludum) [3:26]
Guia Pro Congal (C. Brown) [5:20]
Gwagwa O De (H. Hancock / W. Shorter / Olodum) [8:08]
Follow Me (T. Walls) [4:22]
Nina In The Womb Of The Forest (C. Brown) [2:26]
Carlinhos Brown (guitar, percussion vocals)
Olodum is:
Antonio Luis Alves de Sousa (drums, leader)
Bartolomeu P. Nunes (drums)
Luiz C. S. Alves (drums)
José De Souza (drums)
Antonio Carlos S. Brito (drums)
Gilmario M. de Andrade (drums)
José Carlos Dos Santos (drums)
Luis C. Moreira (drums)
Edilson Da Silva Neiva (drums)
Luis C. M. Monteiro (drums)
Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone)
Herbie Hancock (piano, prepared piano)
Bernie Worrell (Hammond B-3organ)
Henry Threadgill (flute)
Larry Wright (buckets)
David Chapman (buckets)
Tony "Funky Drummer" Walls (drums, metal)
Jungle Brothers, J.L. Nuriddin, Shabba Ranks, Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, Jenny Peters (vocals)
Bootsy Collins, Gary Shider (vocals; guitar)
Herbie Hancock (piano)
Bernie Worrell (piano; organ)
Jeff Bova (synth)
Henry Threadgill (flute)
Robbie Shakespeare (bass)
Nicky Skopelitis (guitar; fairlight)
Michael Hampton (guitar)
Aiyb Dieng (percussion)
Sly Dunbar (drums; drum programming)
Material strings arranged & conducted by Karl Berger
Brass section arranged and conducted by Henry Threadgill:
Olu Dara (cornet; african trumpet)
Joe Daly (baritone horn)
Richard Harper (euphonium)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Joel Brandon (whistling)
Henry Threadgill / Very Very Circus: Live at Koncepts
Taylor Made Records TMR 10292-2 (CD)
May 4, 1991
Koncepts Cultural Gallery
Oakland, CA
Next [9:04]
Snakes Don't Do Suicide [7:39]
I Love You With An Asterisk [5:40]
Someplace [7:30]
Dangerously Slippy [6:51]
King Kong [6:09]
Breach Of Protocol [8:50]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; flute; baritone flute)
Mark Taylor (french horn)
Brandon Ross (electric and acoustic guitar)
Masujaa (electric and acoustic guitar)
Edwin Rodriguez (tuba)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Larry Bright (drums; percussion)
Leroy Jenkins: Themes & Improvisations on the Blues
CRI 663 (CD) 1993
April 9, 1992
Merkin Concert Hall
New York City
Themes & Improvisations on the Blues [18:31]
Panorama 1 [13:33]
Off Duty Dryad [13:04]
Monkey on the Dragon [15:31]
[All compositions, Leroy Jenkins]
Leroy Jenkins (violin)
Henry Threadgill (flute-2,4)
Don Byron (clarinet-2,4)
Marty Ehrlich (bass clarinet-2,4)
Vincent Chancey (French horn-2,4)
Janet Grice (bassoon-4)
Frank Gordon (trumpet-4)
Jeff Hoyer (trombone-4)
Thurman Barker (traps-4)
Myra Melford (piano-4)
David Soldier (violin-1,3)
Laura Seaton (violin-1,3)
Jane Henry (violin-4)
Ron Lawrence (viola-1,3,4)
Mary Wooton (cello-1,3)
Lindsey Horner (bass-3,4)
Tania Leon (conductor-4)
Various Artists: Hal Willner Presents Weird Nightmare Meditations on Mingus
Columbia CK 52739 (CD) 1993
November 12, 1992
Mastersound Studios
Astoria, NY
Meditations On Integration
Weird Nightmare
Weird Nightmare (Reprise)
[All compositions, Charles Mingus]
Michael Blair (marimba eroica-1; drums-1; flapper-1; cloud chamber bowls-2,3)
Art Baron (tuba-1; great bass recorder-2,3; trombone-2,3)
Greg Cohen (bass)
Don Alias (cymbals-1; percussion-1; bass marimba-2,3)
Henry Threadgill (flute)
Marc Ribot (banjo-1; marimba eroica-2,3)
Bill Frisell (guitar)
Francis Thumm (harmonic canon-1; chromelodeon II-2,3)
Elvis Costello (vocal-1,2; harmonic canon-2,3)
Henry Threadgill / Very Very Circus: Too Much Sugar for a Dime
Axiom 314-514 258 (CD) 1993
Date ?, 1993
Sorcerer Sound
Mew York City
Little Pocket Size Demons [10:49]
In Touch [8:49]
Paper Toilet [5:39]
Better Wrapped / Better Unrapped [13:05]
Too Much Sugar [2:58]
Try Some Ammonia [12:23]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Very Very Circus:
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Mark Taylor (french horn)
Brandon Ross (electric guitar; acoustic guitar-5)
Masujaa (electric guitar)
Edwin Rodriguez (tuba)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Gene Lake (drums-1,2,3,4,6)
Guest artists:
Dorian L. Parreott II (tuba-2,4)
Larry Bright (drums-2,4)
Leroy Jenkins (violin-2,4)
Jason Hwang (violin-2,4)
Simon Shaheen (violin and oud-2,4)
Johnny Rudas (culo e puya and fulia-2,4)
Miguel Urvina (culo e puya and fulia-2,4)
Mossa Bildner (vocals-2)
Arenae (vocals-2)
Miguel Urvina (culo e puya-5)
Larry Bright (cymbals-5)
Dorian L. Parreot II (tuba-6)
Date ?, 1994
Greenpoint Studio
Brooklyn, NY
The Broken Zither:
Introduction [2:01]
Boya's Adventures [3:50] *
Meeting With The Woodcutter Ziqi [6:35] *
A Discourse On The Zither [7:24] *
The Appointment With Ziqi [10:52]
Boya's Lament [6:54] *
Breaking The Zither [6:18] *
Married To Exile (A Story of Wang, Zhaojun)
Beyond The Great Wall [4:09]
The Goose [4:31]
Looking Back [3:56]
The Nation's Boundaries [3:56]
Oh Mother [3:37]
[Music and words composed by Liu Sola, except tracks marked *, words composed
by Liu Sola and Umar Bin Hassan.]
Liu Sola (lead and background vocals)
Amina Claudine Myers (Hammond B-3 organ, piano and vocals)
Wu Man (pipa)
Umar Bin Hassan (storyteller)
James Blood Ulmer (guitar)
Jason Hwang (violin)
Henry Threadgill (saxophone)
Ralph Samuelson (shakuhachi)
Ned Rothenberg (shakuhachi and woodwinds)
Fernando Saunders (bass)
Jerome Brailey (drums)
Yukio Tsuji (Japanese percussion)
Aiyb Dieng (African percussion)
Henry Threadgill / Very Very Circus Plus: Carry the Day
Columbia 66995 (CD) 1995
[Also:]
Various Artists: Jazziz On Disc, June 1995 *
Jazziz Magazine, (Magazine & CD) 1995
Date ?, 1995
Come Carry the Day [6:06] *
Growing a Big Banana [3:26]
Vivjanrondirkski [5:55]
Between Orchids Lillies Blind Eyes and Crickets [7:45]
Hyla Crucifer... Silence of [6:09]
Jenkins Boys Again, Wish Somebody Die, It's Hot [7:39]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Very Very Circus
Henry Threadgill (alto sax, baritone flute,flute)
Mark Taylor (french horn)
Brandon Ross (electric and soprano guitars)
Masujaa (electric guitar)
Edwin Rodriguez (tuba)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Gene Lake (drums)
Plus
Wu Man (pipa-1,3,5)
Tony Cedras (accordian-1,3,5)
Jason Hwang (violin-1,3,5)
Johnny Rudas (percussion and vocals-1,3,5)
Miguel Urbina (percussion and vocals-1,3,5)
Sentienla Toy (vocals-3,5)
Mossa Bildner (vocals-5)
Various Artists: Jazziz On Disc, January 2000 Limited Edition *
Jazziz Magazine, Millenium Issue, (Magazine & CD) 2000
August ?, 1996
East Side Sound
New York City
100 Year Old Game [10:54]
Laughing Club [5:00] *
Where's Your Cup? [11:14]
And This [13:40]
Feels Like It [6:39]
The Flew [9:50]
Go To Far [8:56]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; flute)
Brandon Ross (electric and classical guitar)
Tony Cedras (accordian; harmonium)
Stomu Takeishi (5-string fretless bass)
J.T. Lewis (drums)
Carl Bourelly (keyboards and programming)
Jean-Paul Bourelly (guitars and sonic treatment)
Olu Dara (cornet)
Joseph Bowie (trombone)
Will Calhoun (drums, Korg Wave Drum)
Dennis Chambers (drums)
Abdourahmane Diop (vocals)
Melvin Gibbs (electric bass)
Vincent Henry (alto and tenor saxophone)
Orbert "Big Royale" Talamachus (contra boom bass)
Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, flute)
Reggie Workman (acoustic bass)
Henry Threadgill is present on tracks 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
Douglas Ewart and Inventions Clarinet Choir: Angles Of Entrance
Arawak AA 004 (CD) 1998
Date ?, 1998
Venue ?
Atlanta, GA *
* track 6 live at Merkin Hall, New York City
Protusions [8:17]
Migration of Whales [4:44]
One Love [10:19]
Red Hills [8:37]
Angels of Entrance [7:20]
Ewartology [11:54]
[All compositions, Douglas Ewart]
Douglas Ewart (B Flat Bass Clarinet-1,2,4; E Flat Alto Clarinet-3;
Gong-3; B Flat Contra Bass Clarinet-4; B Natural Ewartophone-6)
Malachi Favors Maghostut (Double Bass; Thunder Sheet-3,6)
Mwata Bowden (B Flat Bass Clarinet-1,2; B Flat Contra Bass Clarinet-3;
E Flat Sopranino Clarinet-4,6)
Anthony Braxton (B Flat Contra Bass Clarinet-1,2,4; E Flat Sopranino
Clarinet-3)
J.D. Parran (E Flat Contra Alto Clarinet-1,2,3,4; E Flat Alto
Clarinet-6)
Roscoe Mitchell (B Flat Bass Clarinet, with extended lower range-1; B
Flat Bass Clarinet-2; B Flat Soprano Clarinet-3,4)
Henry Threadgill (B Flat Soprano Clarinet)
Edward Wilkerson, Jr. (B Flat Soprano Clarinet-1,3,6; E Flat Alto Clarinet-2,4)
Don Byron (B Flat Soprano Clarinet-6; B Flat Bass Clarinet-6)
{Primary Source: info via Jeff Caltabiano; Following other sources I have completed the list with track 5, "Angels of Entrance"}
A highly rated album, where Ethiopian vocalist "Gigi" sings African songs, backed by a huge ensemble, including Henry
Threadgill on alto saxophone and flute.
Justin Time JUST 212-2 (CD) Recorded May 18, 19, 2004 Released May 10, 2005
Reflections [11:49]
Ru Con [3:23]
Lock and Load [12:36]
Ly Ngua O [2:20]
Doi Moi [9:21]
Reconciliation [8:23]
Waltz of the Water Puppets [6:48]
Trong Com [2:29]
Reconciliation 2 [12:52]
["Ru Con", "Ly Ngua O" and "Trong Com" are Traditionals, all other composed by Billy Bang]
Billy Bang (violin, bandleader and composer)
Lawrence "Butch" Morris (cornet and conductor)
Ron Brown (percussion)
Ted Daniel (trumpet)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax + flute)
James Spaulding (alto sax + flute)
Co Boi Nguyen (vocals)
Nnan Thanh Ngo (dan tranh)
John Hicks (piano)
Curtis Lundy (bass)
Michael Carvin (drums)
Titles from the previously unissued record, "X75, Volume 2" are:
Luap Nosebor [11:34]
Salute to the Enema Bandit [10:21]
Melin [6:29]
Same personell as on "X75, Volume 1" but without Amina Claudine Myers, voice.
Personally I object to the word "complete" as, according to the sleeve notes of the original album "Open Air Suit",
one piece, "Card Three: Trummps Room 201 Bed 3" (observe the spelling of trummps with two m!), was omitted from that
record due to the fact that the lp couldn't contain one more tune. Nor has it been issued later. Consequently,
it should have been issued in this release.
ECM Records 2392 (CD) Recorded August 29, 2013 Released January 24, 2015
Recorded live at Chicago’s Millenium Park during the Chicago Jazz Festival 2013.
Mixed by Manfred Eicher, Jack DeJohnette and James A. Farber (engineer) at Avatar Studio, New York.
Issued as the AACM begins its 50th anniversary year.
Chant (Mitchell) [16:56]
Jack 5 (Abrams) [14:53]
This (Mitchell) [12:13]
Museum of Time (DeJohnette) [13:37]
Leave Don’t Go Away (Threadgill) [10:19]
Announcement [3:28]
Ten Minutes (collective) [6:09]
Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, bass flute)
Roscoe Mitchell (alto, soprano and sopranino saxophones, bass recorder, baroque flute)
Muhal Richard Abrams (piano)
Larry Gray (double bass, cello)
Jack DeJohnette (drums)
Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double-Up: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
Pi Recordings 64 (CD) Old Locks was commissioned by and premiered at New Yorks Winter Jazz Fest in January 2014 Recorded May 22 2015 Released April 01 2016
Track List:
Part One [19:15]
Part Two [3:54]
Part Three [16:38]
Part Four [7:14]
Henry Threadgill (composer, conductor)
Jason Moran (piano)
David Virelles (piano)
Roman Filiu (alto saxophone)
Curtis Macdonald (alto saxophone)
Christopher Hoffman (cello)
José Davila (tuba)
Craig Weinrib (drums)
Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg: Dirt... And More Dirt
Pi Recordings 73 (CD) Recorded at Water Music, Hoboken, NJ on September 24-27, 2017 Released May 18 2018
Track List:
Dirt - Part I [08:01]
Dirt - Part II [00:57]
Dirt - Part III[04:35]
Dirt - Part IV [05:16]
Dirt - Part V [04:11]
Dirt - Part VI [03:47]
And More Dirt - Part I [07:13]
And More Dirt - Part II [00:38]
And More Dirt - Part III[01:24]
And More Dirt - Part IV [02:50]
Credits [02:04]
Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, flute, bass flute, composer)
David Bryant (left piano)
David Virelles (right piano)
Roman Filiu (alto saxophone, alto flute)
Curtis Macdonald (alto saxophone)
José Davila (tuba)
Ben Gerstein (trombone)
Jacob Garchik (trombone)
Jonathan Finlayson (Bb trumpet, F trumpet)
Stephanie Richards (Bb trumpet)
Liberty Ellman (guitar)
Christopher Hoffman (cello)
Thomas Morgan (bass)
Elliott Humberto Kavee (left drums)
Craig Weinrib (right drums, percussion)
Henry Threadgill Ensemble Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus
Pi Recordings 75 (CD) Released May 18 2018
Track List:
Game Is Up [20:48]
Clear And Distinct From The Other A [9:56]
Clear And Distinct From The Other B [6:15]
Clear And Distinct [8:38]
Henry Threadgill
David Bryant (left piano)
David Virelles (right piano)
Louis Perdomo (piano)
Roman Filiu (alto saxophone)
Curtis Macdonald (alto saxophone)
Christopher Hoffman (cello)
José Davila (tuba)
Craig Weinrib (drums)
June 27, 1979
Recorded live in Pisa, Italy.
Mics recording.
Eulogy for Charles Clarke?/Portrait of Leo Smith [14:36]
Somebody Got the Wrong Shoes (for Rafael Garrett) [13:22]
Sir Simpleton [12:37]
Untitled Tango [16:09]
Open Air Suit [05:56]
All compositions by Henry Threadgill.
Track 1 is in 2 parts, the first supposedly with unidentified title, but my humble
guess is that it's a version of "Eulogy for Charles Clarke" with Henry playing
alto sax instead of flute. Track 5 was performed as an encore. This was the last
concert of a 4 month long European tour, which made it very special and filled
with much joyful playing.
Henry Threadgill (1 as,fl; 2,4 ts; 3,5 as)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (drums)
{Primary Source: info via Greg Campbell} {The title of the second tune thanks to Jeff Lackie, a disciple of Steve McCall}
November, 1980
Recorded live at The Public Theatre
New York City
The Hard Blues [16:47]
For Billie [8:51]
Open Air [2:23]
Border Town [11:56]
All Harmony [15:07]
Unidentified Title [2:43] (n.c.)
Julius Hemphill (reeds,composer,conductor)
Stan Strickland (reeds)
John Purcell (reeds)
Marty Ehrlich (reeds)
Henry Threadgill (reeds)
Baikida Carroll (brasses)
John Clarice (brasses)
Charles Stephens (brasses)
Erritt McDonald (brasses)
Ed Schuller (bass)
Warren Smith (marimba)
Pheeroan akLaff (drums)
January 10, 1981
Recorded live at Merlin's, Madison, Wi.
Audience recording.
Lineage: unknown recorder to master cassette -> dub to Maxell
XL-I cassettes in 1981-82 -> refurbished Nakamichi Dragon ->
Sound Devices MIxPre 6ii at 24/96 ->Audacity, Fission, xAct.
Transferred, mastered by Relefunt in December 2022.
Sir Simpleton [15:59]
Subtraction [12:25]
Somebody Got the Wrong Shoes (for Rafael Garrett) [15:58]
C.T., J.L. [19:41]
B.K. [11:53]
Cremation [12:50]
No. 2 [13:56]
Untitled Tango [14:42])
B.K. by Steve McCall, all other compositions by Henry Threadgill.
Henry Threadgill (reeds)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (drums)
Listening to this concert, I found that there is a 9:th tune the last 4-5 minutes of Untitled Tango.
I can recognize it, but don't remember the title. It's not following other versions of Untitled Tango,
like the original Why Not release of Air Song from 1975 or in 'Live in Pisa' from 1979.
Cremation was to be recorded in 1983 by The Henry Treadgill Sextett on !Just he Facts And Pass The Bucket'.
Henry Threadgill (alto sax, tenor sax)
Lester Bowie (trumpet)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Muneer Abdul Fataah (cello)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
John Betsch (drums)
Honour to the one who saved this important performance for future listening.
As I know, it is the one and only occasion where you can hear Lester Bowie
and Muneer Abdul Fataah in a Threadgill group. This combo has also a different
sound compared with the other sextet recordings. A performance filled with rough,
adventurous playing, wild and heavy swing, combined with a lot of free collective
improvising. Joyful playing and listening.
Amiri Baraka /LeRoi Jones (recitation)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax and flute)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Steve McCall (drums)
Amiri Baraka's forceful voice blends excellently with AIR's music,
Threadgill improvising relaxed and freely around his own tunes, as in
Good Times. In Am/Trak is Coltrane's Equinox woven around Monk's
Epistrophy. He also nods at Diz & Bird (in Class Struggle In Music 2)
with Groovin' High, following the spoken word.
{Primary Source: info via Greg Campbell}
AIR poster for this program.
The above photo of Henry also decorates the front page of the September, 1983, issue of "Jazz Times".
Henry Threadgill Sextet at Kool Jazz Festival, NYC
Radio Broadcast
June 29, 1982
Kool Jazz Festival
NYC
Announcement by Ben Sidran [0:47]
Fanfare and Ceremony [22:17]
Announcement by Ben Sidran [0:33]
The composition "Fanfare and Ceremony" is built in two parts,
first the fanfare starts with drums followed by Olu Dara's cornet and Craig Harris' trombone, the band continuing with the "Cremation" theme, then passing over into the second part, the 13:45 minutes long "When Was That".
[Compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Olu Dara (cornet)
Craig Harris (trombone)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Brian Smith (bass)
John Betsch (drums)
Pheeroan akLaff (drums)
Henry Threadgill and Cassandra Wilson with John Hicks' trio
Concert broadcast
1985
Blue in Green (Miles Davis) [8:00]
Through a Keyhole Darkly (Threadgill) [8:00]
Sweet Lorraine (Cliff Burwell and Mitchell Parish) [5:45]
Straight Up and Fly Right (Nat "King" Cole and Irving Mills) [9:00]
All Blues (Miles Davis) [8:20]
I've got that old feeling (Alison Krauss) [8:25]
Unidentified rag (Threadgill) [13:00] *)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax, 1-2,4-7)
Cassandra Wilson (vocal, 1,3-6)
John Hicks (piano)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Idris Muhammad (drums)
This list starts at Threadgill's entering and ends with his last appearance.
Times are rounded including applauses. A rare occasion to hear Henry playing on some standards and two Miles Davis tunes.
*) The same tune was performed by NEW AIR in Rankweil. Henry soloing:
The Henry Threadgill Windstring Ensemble: "Imaginary Film & Radio Show"
Private Recording
February 02 1985
The Alternative Museum
New York
Tunin' Up [0:38]
When Life Is Cheap And Taken For Granite, part 1 [13:11]
When Life Is Cheap And Taken For Granite, part 2 [10:09]
When Life Is Cheap And Taken For Granite, part 3 [8:09]
When Life Is Cheap And Taken For Granite, part 4 [5:20]
When Life Is Cheap And Taken For Granite, part 5 [5:22]
Bed Ghosts..., or I'll Be All Over You Like A Cheap Suit, part 1 [5:35]
Bed Ghosts..., or I'll Be All Over You Like A Cheap Suit, part 2 [12:05]
Bed Ghosts..., or I'll Be All Over You Like A Cheap Suit, part 3 [8:58]
Bed Ghosts..., or I'll Be All Over You Like A Cheap Suit, part 4 [6:24]
Bed Ghosts..., or I'll Be All Over You Like A Cheap Suit, part 5 [3:53]
[All Compositions by Henry Threadgill,
Synopsis by Ilyse Kazar,
Imaginary Libretto by Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Tony Underwood (tuba)
Patmore Lewis (violin)
Leroy Jenkins (viola)
Akua Dixon Turre (cello)
Jean-Paul Bourelly (guest artist on guitar)
Henry Threadgill and Orchestra at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Recorded at Brooklyn Academy of Music/Next Wave Festival on VHS video-cassette.
December 12, 1987
Brooklyn Academy of Music Carey Playhouse
NYC
Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High [60+ minutes]
Composition and text by Henry Threadgill
Alto saxophone: Henry Threadgill (standing in front of the orchestra)
Violins: Akbar Ali, John Blake, Jason Hwang, Leroy Jenkins, Elektra Kurtis-Stewart, Miriam Papp, Marc Sabat, David Soldier
Violas: Lori Berkowitz, Kenneth Edwards, Dierdre Lawrence, Ron Lawrence
Cello: Dierdre Murray, Abdul Wadud
Bass: Anthony Cox, Fred Hopkins
Percussion: Thurman Barker, Brian [Bryan] Carrott, Eli Fountain, Warren Smith
Voice: Raymond Bazemore, Andy Bey, Avery Brooks, William Drake, Josephine Morris, Marianne Wells, Amina Claudine Myers, Asha Pulti *)
Conductor: Hale Smith
*) The correct spelling of her name should be Asha Puthli.
The performance was reviewed in New York Times by Robert Palmer.
Greg Campbell found this recording in the New York Public Library and reports: 'The video in the end is quite good. The performance has an overall theme of darkness to light, which is evident in the lyrics (for example, "In the middle of the night, daylight comes, down, down, down, all around," and "in the middle of the day, midnight comes, up, up, up, all around, so clear," and ending with the repeated refrain "Shall you come home, in the middle of the night?"), but also in the lighting. The piece begins with a dark stage (the players' music stand lights being the only illumination), and gets gradually lighter over the 70 or so minutes, so that by the end of the piece, you can actually see the forms and faces of the performers.'
On this shot from the concert, Henry is seen in front and Thurman Barker behind to the right.
July 11, 1989
Jazzhus Montmartre
Copenhagen Jazz festival
Sweet Holy Rag [13:14]
[Composition, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Ted Daniel (trumpet)
Bill Lowe (bass trombone)
Diedre Murray (cello)
Fred Hopkins (bass)
Newman Baker (drums; percussion)
Reggie Nicholson or Yoron Israel (drums; percussion)
Reggie Nicholson was announced as drummer, but my memory (although weak) says Yoron Israel.
Part of the program for this concert. Note that the program maker erroneously states New Yorker Cecil Taylor as originating in AACM.
Henry Threadgill Sextett at Montmartre, Copenhagen 1989.
Visible are Newman Baker (partly), Bill Lowe, Ted Daniel
and Henry. Photo by discographer.
Very Very Circus:
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; flute)
Curtis Fowlkes (trombone)
Brandon Ross (electric guitar)
Masujaa (electric guitar)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Edwin Rodriguez (tuba)
Gene Lake (drums)
Henry Threadgill interview made by Martin Hansson
for Swedish radio program "Django".
Interview, part 1 & Intro [6:36]
I Love You With An Asterisk [6:20]
Breach Of Protocol [11:30]
Snakes Don't Do Suicide [13:58]
Interview, part 2 & Announcement [6:32]
Little Pocket Size Demons [13:42]
Hope A Hope A [14:14]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Very Very Circus:
Henry Threadgill (alto sax, flutes)
Mark Taylor (french horn)
Brandon Ross (electric and acoustic guitar)
Masujaa (electric and acoustic guitar)
Edwin Rodriguez (tuba)
Herman Peña (tuba)
Gene Lake (drums)
Very Very Circus
Mejeriet, Lund 1993
Photo by discographer.
Henry Threadgill & Make a Move at Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Danish Radio Broadcast
July 08, 1996
Copenhagen Jazz House
Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Announcement (by Ib Skovgaard) [1:25]
On Remember [9:25]
Go To Far [10:28]
The Flew [9:00]
100 Year Old Game [12:30]
Announcement (by Henry Threadgill) [0:25]
[All compositions, Henry Threadgill]
Henry Threadgill (alto sax; flute)
Brandon Ross (electric and classical guitar)
Tony Cedras (accordian; harmonium)
Stomu Takeishi (5-string fretless bass)
J.T. Lewis (drums)
Muhal Richard Abrams' Experimental Band: Live in Saalfelden
Broadcasted and recorded on Deutschlandradio (Tonart) August 25, 2012
Saalfelden 33:rd Jazz Festival
Austria
Untitled impro [1:12:19]
Muhal Richard Abrams (piano)
Henry Threadgill (alto sax)
Roscoe Mitchell (alto and soprano saxes)
Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)
Amina Claudine Myers (piano)
George Lewis (trombone)
Leonard Jones (bass)
Thurman Barker (vibes, percussion)
Reggie Nicholson (drums)
Henry Threadgill has also over the years led his about 20 pieces orchestra, "Society Situation Dance Band", at least documented on these occasions:
Saalfelden, Austria. August 27, 1988
Fabrik Altona, Hamburg, Germany. October 23, 1988
Verona, Italy. June 25, 1996
North Sea Jazz Festival, den Haag, The Netherlands. July 12, 1997
Hudson Tent, Texaco NYC Jazz Festival, USA. June 12, 1998.
{Primary Source: info via Antonio Bueno & Chistopher Carville}
For example the lineup from Hudson Tent, according to the jazzfest schedule, should be:
Henry Threadgill (conductor)
Amina Claudine Myers (vocals)
Bob Stewart (tuba)
Brandon Ross (guitar)
Tony Cedras (accordion, harmonium)
Leroy Jenkins (violin)
Jason Kao Hwang (violin)
Charles Burnham (violin)
Akua Dixon Turre (cello)
Michelle Kinney (cello)
John Stubblefield (tenor sax)
Booker T. (tenor sax)
Rolando Brisegno (soprano sax)
Russell Gunn (trumpet)
Ted Daniel (trumpet)
Oswaldo Melendez (trombone)
Stomu Takeishi (electric bass)
J.T. Lewis (drums)
Roberto Maldonado (percussion)
Other vocalists who have been singing with the band are Aster Aweke
and the duo of Sherri Scott and Drew Richards.
On four clips from Hamburg, we see Henry conducting. The first clip finds Bob Stewart on tuba
and Booker T. soloing on tenor sax. The right clip finds Ted Daniel soloing on trumpet and John
Stubblefield on soprano sax. The third clip is dominated by Craig Harris' trombone, followed by
Sherri Scott's and Drew Richards' singing. This duo continues on the fourth clip, followed by
Jerome Harris on bass guitar and John Stubblefield's return, this time on tenor sax. Drummer
(to the right) is Reggie Nicholson and I think the percussionist is Roberto Maldonado:
SSDB plays Threadgill's arrangements of his familiar tunes, partly from the Sextett albums. I guess Henry arranged Bell and Ponce especially for SSDB. Unfortunately none of these concerts have been commercially issued.
According to Henry,
these concerts were not meant to be recorded for repeated listening. They were live performances to dance to, like those of old times.
Four Lives in the Bebop Business. Book by A.B. Spellman. First printing 1966 by Pantheon Books, first reprinted 1970 as a SCHOCKEN paperback edition under the title Black Music - four lives.
Black Music. Book by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka). First printing 1968, reprinted 2010 by Akashic Books. Referred to by Threadgill in our next item as the most significant book about the contemporary music scene. In
an earlier book, Blues People, Baraka is examining and explaining the history of black music. First printing of
Blues People in 1963, reprinted 1999.
Where Are Our Critics? AACM Magazine "The New Regime", no 1, 1968. Article by Henry Threadgill.
The Black Giants. Book edited by Pauline Rivelli and Robert Levin. First printing 1970. Published in the USA by The World Publishing Company.
Air: Impossible to Pigeonhole. Down Beat, December 16, 1976. Article by John B. Litweiler.
Air: Uncommon Ensemble Excitement from the Streets of Chicago. Chicago Reader, December 17, 1976. Article by John B. Litweiler.
As Serious As Your Life: The story of the new jazz. Book by Valerie Wilmer. First printing 1977. Published in London by Allison & Busby Limited.
AIR. The magazine "Musician Player & Listener", no 32, April-May 1981. Article by Rafi Zabor. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
Henry Threadgill: BEYOND AIR. Jazz Times, September 1983. Article and interview by Joe Blum.
The Freedom Principle. Jazz After 1958. Book by John B. Litweiler, published 1984. William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York.
Rhythm-a-ning. Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the 80's. Book by Gary Giddins, first published 1985. Oxford University Press Inc., New York.
Meet the Composer: Henry Threadgill. Ear Magazine (out of print), October 1987. Article by Larry Birnbaum. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
Henry Threadgill: Composer, Bandleader and Alchemist. Down Beat, February 1989. Article by Kevin Lynch.
Henry Threadgill. Europe Jazz Network MUSICIANS, April 1991. Biography courtesy of Saudades Tourneen.
Fried grapefruit: The life of Henry Threadgill. Article written by Greg Sandow for Columbia Records 1995 as part of the press kit for "Carry the Day".
OUTSIDE MOVES IN; Henry Threadgill Inks A Major-Label Deal. Down Beat, March 1995. Article by Larry Birnbaum.
Henry Threadgill & Make a MoveWhere's Your Cup? JAZZIZ Magazine, June 1997. Article by Jim Macnie. This is the one and only negative criticism of a Threadgill record that I have seen. Macnie finds this record (by one of Threadgills most fascinating combos) tedious, when I find it a much rewarding listening experience.
Sashaying In Your Head. Village Voice, June 23, 1998: "Review from the 1998 Texaco New York Festival", Article by Robert Christgau.
Henry Threadgill. A 2006 essay by Pietro Scaruffi from his site "Jazz Music", including "Jazz Musicians". Translated by Tradotto da xxx.
Threadgill, Henry (Luther). ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAZZ MUSICIANS, March 2008. Jazz.com. Contributor: Greg Campbell.
A POWER STRONGER THAN ITSELF. The AACM and American Experimental Music. Book by George E. Lewis, published 2008. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Easily Slip into Another World. A LIFE IN MUSIC. Book by HENRY THEADGILL and Brent Hayes Edwards, published May 16 2023 by Alfred A. Knopf, United States.
From the front page of Jazz Times, September 1983.
From the front page of Down Beat, March 1995.
Front page from publication with Henry on bass flute.
Steve McCall. CODA Magazine, issue number 182, 1982. Interview by Larry Dublin.
Henry Threadgill: Music to Make the Sun Come Up. Down Beat, July 1985. By Howard Mandel. This is not an interview as such, with questions and answers, in that Mandel only makes some short statements about Henry's broad musical career up to this point, while the rest of the text is a "monologue" by Threadgill. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
Henry Threadgill. Cadence Magazine, October 1988. Interview by Miyoshi Smith. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
From Sextett to Very Very Circus. Mejeriet, Lund, 1993. Threadgill interviewed at VVC concert by Martin Hansson.
Future Jazz. Chapters featuring interviews with Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman and Henry Threadgill. Oxford University Press, 1999.
A Fireside Chat with Henry Threadgill. Jazzweekly, 2001. Interview by Fred Jung.
And They All Sang. Book by Studs Terkel, published 2005. New Press. A collection of interviews of “forty of the greatest and most deeply human musical figures of our time”.
Conversation with Henry Threadgill. Jazz Studies Online, 2008. Host: Brent Hayes Edwards, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia.
Henry Threadgill: El control de mi tiempo. October 29, 2008 interview in Tomajazz by Jorge López de Guereńu. First published in the special Autumn-Winter 2009 issue of the Spanish magazine "Mas Jazz". (Info via Germán Lázaro.)
Henry Threadgill Unedited. The Wire, Issue #309, November 2009. Interview by Hank Shteamer. (Info via JJ Pédussaud.)
Jazz at Lincoln Center Education Media. Listening Party - Henry Threadgill. Hosted by Ken Druker, February 18, 2010. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
Henry Threadgill: No Compromise. A 'NewMusicBox' Interview, October 1, 2010, by Frank J. Oteri.
Do The Math. Interview with Henry Threadgill on May 16/21, 2011 for BBC Radio program "Jazz on 3" by Ethan Iverson. (Info via Bob Davenport.)
Henry Threadgill. A 'Web Exlusive' Interview, early September 2011, by Glen Hall.
"A Door to Other Doors": Improvisation and Creation Sound. Henry Threadgill Interviewed by Daniel Fischlin, September 9, 2011.
A Conversation with Henry Threadgill. Interview made 2013/10/26 and published 2014/04/01, by Larry Appelbaum, the Music Division at the Library of Congress. (Info via Greg Campbell.)
Henry Threadgill. Blowes in from the Windy City. Jazzwise, Issue 279 November 2022. A conversation with Kevin Le Gendre. (Info via Bandcamp.)
Thanks
I got the opportunity to adopt and develop this project, that
Rick Lopez had started on January 25, 2001, perhaps due to the fact that I already had contributed to it with a majority of the initial detailing
(Rick's expression). I don't remember the exact date, but Rick made his last update on January 24, 2005. At that time the discography contained two parts, Session-by-session listing with official releases and Thanks. During his as well as mine leadership, Assistance, Direction and Encourage- ment have come from many gracious individuals and companies.
You will find the following names in the discography, mostly as primary source of information. In order of appearance:
Jeff Caltabiano, Larry Shengold, R. Lynn Rardin, Enrico Romero, René Wezel, Giuseppe Vigna, Carl Morano, Greg Campbell, Antonio Bueno, Christopher Carville, Mike Wilkens, Bill Ellenberg,
Holger Neuhaus, Andrea Gaggero, Andy Stone, Germán Lázaro, JJ Pédussaud, Bob Davenport.
Thank you all and especially Rick, who let me take over!
By listening to radio music programs I first became aware of Threadgill's music. In a jazz program I heard a trio with flute, bass and drums called AIR playing a composition in a wonderful and for me new way. I didn't remember the name of that tune, but to find out I had to go buying AIR records. The first one was Open Air Suit. After that I had to go on buying all Threadgill records.
Consequently I want to thank Henry Threadgill for who he is and his wonderful music as well as his generosity to talk to me on his Scandinavian visits about his different projects like his Dance Band and his Windstring Ensemble, which I hadn't been aware of until then. I especially remember the pleasure of sharing a drink with Fred Hopkins at the Monmartre bar, while Henry was listening to Gipsy Kings from the loudspeakers. Thank you Henry and all your band members!
As a curiosity I still don't know, may only guess, which AIR tune (B.K.?) I first heard on radio.
