The event, titled Be Ever Out: The Music of Henry Threadgill, was a celebration of one of the most important contemporary jazz composers. It took place last June at the Roulette Theater in Brooklyn and featured four bands performing over two days. For many fans, it was also an opportunity to reflect on Threadgill’s immense contribution to the evolution of the music we love.
Threadgill is indispensable for understanding the progress of the jazz language, and only a few others stand beside him on the same pedestal. Curiously, almost all of them come from Chicago. The AACM remains, as they say, “the mother of invention,” and there is little doubt about that. No offense to New York, which continues to contribute to the development of various avant-garde idioms with excellent results, but the roots of much of this creativity still lead back to the shores of Lake Michigan.
We have met Threadgill several times and have spoken about him at length in these pages. Returning to his music is always a priceless pleasure. We once remarked to the producers at Pi Recordings – the label that has been chronicling the composer’s achievements for years – that his music belongs to the twenty-second century. We thank them once again.
In our June issue, we discussed Threadgill’s new composition, premiered at Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival. Entitled Listen Ship, it is an exceptional and unusual work, even for Threadgill, who is never conventional. The piece features four guitarists (Brandon Ross, Bill Frisell, Greg Belisle-Chi, and Miles Okazaki), two electric bassists (Stomu Takeishi and Jerome Harris), two pianists (Maya Keren and Bahul Carlberg), and one conductor.
This long suite, divided into sixteen sections marked with letters of the alphabet, has already been recorded and will be released in September. Having heard it in preview, we can confirm the positive impressions we had from the concert. It is a work of great structural complexity and extraordinary execution that will stand as a watershed in the prolific output of the Chicago-born, New York–based maestro.
We also learned from the producers at Pi Recordings that Threadgill will soon release a new album with his historic group Zooid. Threadgill himself told us at Roulette that the album has a curious title: Cut You Where You Was. It will be recorded in the summer and released early next year.
Threadgill was present throughout the two-day celebration of his music, though he preferred to remain a spectator, leaving it to his disciples to revive on stage the works that marked the turning points in his career. The four bands were Air Legacy Trio, Very Very Circus, Make a Move, and The Sextet.
The Air Trio was the first major revelation of Threadgill’s artistry. With him on saxophone and flute were Fred Hopkins on bass and Steve McCall on drums. The trio, active for about a decade from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, was a breath of fresh air that redefined the wind–bass–drums triangle through unprecedented and often explosive solutions. Hopkins and McCall are sadly no longer with us, and Threadgill entrusted their legacy to Marty Ehrlich (saxophone and flute), Hilliard Greene (bass), and Pheeroan Aklaff (drums).
Carrying such a heavy legacy is no easy task, but the three musicians performed admirably. Their set was remarkable, even if it could not equal the intensity of the original trio. We had already seen them last year at Big Ears, where they played with greater awareness and cohesion, and that growth was evident again here.
Next came Very Very Circus, a group that perhaps represents the pinnacle of Threadgill’s career as a composer. On tuba were two of his most devoted followers, Marcus Rojas and José Davila. The same goes for the two superb guitarists, Miles Okazaki and Brandon Ross. They were joined by bassist Chris Bates, drummer Gene Lake, and young saxophonist Noah Becker, who handled the daunting task of replacing Threadgill with exemplary poise (not to be confused with the older Canadian artist of the same name).
This septet offered the maestro’s most electrifying, unclassifiable, and joyfully elegiac music, providing the finest set of both evenings. Becker emerged as a potential new star among the latest generation of saxophonists.
The following day featured the Make a Move quintet and The Sextet – two historic formations rich in stylistic variety and contrasting textures of rare effectiveness.
Make a Move showcased a fascinating tension between two soloists: guitarist Brandon Ross, perfectly attuned to Threadgill’s artistic ethos, and alto saxophonist Darius Jones, more inclined toward visceral, idiosyncratic improvisation. Their contrasting energies were balanced by the original sound texture of keyboardist David Virelles, who played a hand-pumped accordion – an unprecedented element in Threadgill’s musical universe.
Electric bassist Stomu Takeishi and drummer JT Lewis provided cohesion and rhythmic propulsion, acting as the ensemble’s vital engine. This unusual combination produced a compelling interpretation of Threadgill’s music and offered inspiration for future developments. It was the most surprising set of the four and perhaps even overshadowed the final one by The Sextet.
On paper, The Sextet appeared the most dazzling, but its performance was somewhat marred by the presence of veteran trombonist Frank Lacy, who also conducted. His frequent jokes and banter, out of place in such rigorously structured music, often disrupted – and at times diluted – the compositional fabric. That said, his exuberant solo talent remains undeniable, and it fits perfectly when he performs with the Mingus Big Band, for example.
Lacy was joined by trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonist and flutist Mike Lee, cellist Christopher Hoffman, bassist Ken Filiano, and two drummers, Newman Taylor Baker and Reggie Nicholson. With such a lineup, we expected a sumptuous set rich in timely solos – and in part, it was. Yet the ensemble’s intricate structure was often overshadowed by Lacy’s stentorian gestures. As conductor, he struggled to interpret the scores convincingly. Perhaps he wanted, in his own way, to paraphrase the festival’s title: Be Ever Out!
Ultimately, we experienced two days that celebrated and reaffirmed the art of Henry Threadgill – music marked by mobility, refinement, and complexity, and by a spirit of ceaseless innovation that continues to surprise even those deeply familiar with his aesthetic. These priceless qualities place the Chicago maestro firmly among the all-time greats in the history of jazz.
