Threadgill's Asking Questions!

Henry Threadgill was among the first wave of distinctive and utterly original artists to emerge from Chicago’s Association for The Advancement of Creative Music along with Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton and the member of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago. As a saxophonist, he delivers his unique style with a big, dry sound and precise articulation. As a composer, he was an American original, influenced by the entire spectrum of music. He creates distinctive sonic canvasses for a variety of ensemble. And his work is infused with a wonderfully dry, almost absurdist sense of humor.

I am not sure where to begin on this artist. I really think he is a genius, but some people think he is a little difficult for the ears. His odd instrumentation on the album I am going to talk about is enough to make some people cringe. I mean you have Electric Bass, Electric Guitar, Accordion, Alto Saxophone (sometimes flute), Drums, and Harmonium. He does have two amazing people in J.T. Lewis on Drums and Brandon Ross on Guitar. Who themselves started a band with Melvin Gibbs from Rollins Band to create a odd but wonderful trio called Harriett Tubman. It's not the musicians that make this different it's the inside workings of Henry Threadgill that do this.

I heard him back in 1994 on a college Jazz radio program that talked about the resurgence of his music. The DJ played about an hour of his various ensembles and from his Jazz group AIR (not to be confused with the French Duo). All the music had a fresh, but not your normal Jazz feel to it. It was creative to hear this wonderful music that added punch and bite to a normal jazz quintet. It was fun to hear different ideas in Jazz, not the normal Bass, Drums, Piano, Trumpet, Saxophone idea. This stuff was pretty impressive on it's own. I went to ask my friend who had more knowledge on his stuff if there would be something else I would like. He handed me a CD that just came out a year previous and told me to take a listen. This was a group that had a lot of music going on, but I am sure I could figure it out.



Two days later I returned the CD to him and asked him why is this music so good and different. The look of who knows was written on his face. He also mentioned to me that he will be playing at the same Jazz Festival that we will be going to, so we should mark it that we should go see him. At this festival that we went to that lasted two weeks we saw so much stuff that I am sure I will never come across again or that is a once in a lifetime event. A great example is on the steps of Columbia University we saw Cecil Taylor and Max Roach do Piano and Drums Duo that was quite first rate. We saw Jazz that normal people would scratch their head and walk out. The day we saw Threadgill was a great occasion because all the Jazz musicians who lived in the area stopped in to watch this moment. I saw Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano and countless others come into this club to see this wise man teach us how things work. Afterwords, I came up to Branford and asked him what he thought. He told me that he was speechless. Later on I found out that he got Henry Threadgill a contract at Columbia.

That time at the Jazz Fest was great because I knew that I was on to a lot of big jazz names that will be the future of that genre. I also can say I saw Threadgill live. I saw him again a few years back and he did not lose his edge or sense of where he belongs in the Jazz world. Henry Threadgill has played music for years, but the music he plays should be timeless and should be studied with all the other greats. His unique sound is something that all other groups should learn and and understand.



Besides his music being hard to categorize, his music is also out of print and not easy to locate. Since I bought this album new back in 1996 it was easy to locate and back then my friend put it in a display of staff picks where most his friends bought the album and still have it to this day. If you see this album pick it up. In September Mosaic Records will issue a box set of his Columbia and Novus records. This will be a treat to listen to and of course I hope to pick it up. If you need to start anywhere with Henry Threadgill I suggest that you do that, but remember this; if you think his unusual music is something that is a hard taste, this music on this album is some of the best prime food on his table. Take a chance and enjoy!