Editing Henry Threadgill

{{Short description|American composer, saxophonist and flautist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name             = Henry Threadgill
| image            = Henry Threadgill1.jpg
| caption          = Henry Threadgill at Keystone Korner, San Francisco CA 4/5/79 w/AIR, including Fred Hopkins & Steve McCall
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name       = Henry Luther Threadgill
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1944|2|15}}
| birth_place      = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| genre            = [[Jazz]], [[avant-garde jazz]], [[free jazz]]
| occupation       = Musician, composer
| instrument       = Saxophone, flute
| years_active     = 1960s–present
| label            = [[Arista Records|Arista]]/[[Novus Records|Novus]], About Time, [[Black Saint/Soul Note|Black Saint]], [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], [[Pi Recordings|Pi]]
| associated_acts= [[Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians|AACM]], [[Air (jazz group)|Air]], [[Muhal Richard Abrams]], [[Billy Bang]], [[Anthony Braxton]], [[Craig S. Harris (trombonist)|Craig Harris]], [[Leroy Jenkins (jazz musician)|Leroy Jenkins]], [[Roscoe Mitchell]]
| website          = {{URL|www.henrythreadgill.com}}
}}

'''Henry Threadgill''' (born February 15, 1944)<ref name="LarkinJazz">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|page=396}}</ref> is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Kelsey |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/henry-threadgill-mn0000673638/biography |title=Henry Threadgill &#124; Biography & History |website=[[AllMusic]] |date=February 15, 1944 |access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref> He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in [[jazz]] but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He has performed and recorded with several ensembles: [[Air (jazz group)|Air]], Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill <!-- Please do not modify this spelling. -->Sextett<!-- Please do not modify this spelling. -->, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.

He was awarded the 2016 [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] for his album ''[[In for a Penny, In for a Pound]]'',<ref name="Chinen">{{cite news|last1=Chinen|first1=Nate|title=At Last, a Box Henry Threadgill Fits Nicely Into: Pulitzer Winner|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/arts/music/henry-threadgill-pulitzer-prize-penny-pound.html?_r=0|access-date=April 19, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 18, 2016}}</ref> which premiered at [[Roulette Intermedium]] on December 4, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://roulette.org/events/henry-threadgill/ |title=Henry Threadgill – Roulette |website=Roulette.org |date=July 22, 2014 |access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref>

In 2023, he published his autobiography, written with [[Brent Hayes Edwards]]: ''Easily Slip into Another World: A Life in Music.''<ref>{{cite web| url = https://thebluemoment.com/2023/08/04/summer-books-1-henry-threadgill/| title = Summer books 1: Henry Threadgill| author = Williams, Richard| date = August 4, 2023| access-date = August 5, 2023| website = the blue moment}}</ref> The book was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book of the Year, along with being a Best Book of the Year: ''The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker''.

==Career==
Threadgill performed as a percussionist in his high-school marching band before taking up baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, and flute. He studied at the [[American Conservatory of Music]] in Chicago, majoring in piano, flute, and composition. He studied piano with Gail Quillman and composition with Stella Roberts.<ref name="Chinen" /> He was an original member of the Experimental Band, a precursor to the [[Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians]] (AACM) in his hometown of Chicago, and worked under the guidance of [[Muhal Richard Abrams]], before leaving to tour with a [[Gospel music|gospel]] band.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In 1967, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, playing with a rock band in Vietnam during the [[Vietnam War]] in 1967 and 1968. He was discharged in 1969.

After returning to Chicago, Threadgill joined AACM members bassist [[Fred Hopkins]] and drummer [[Steve McCall (drummer)|Steve McCall]] in a trio which would eventually become the group [[Air (jazz group)|Air]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> He moved to New York City, where he formed his first group, X-75, a nonet consisting of four reed players, four bass players, and a vocalist.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/>

In the early 1980s, Threadgill created his first critically acclaimed ensemble as a leader, the Henry Threadgill Sextet (actually a septet; he counted the two drummers as a single percussion unit),<ref>Giddins, Gary and Scott DeVeaux (2009). ''Jazz''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, {{ISBN|978-0-393-06861-0}}</ref> which released three albums on About Time Records. After a hiatus, he formed New Air with [[Pheeroan akLaff]], replacing Steve McCall on drums, and reformed the Henry Threadgill<!-- Please do not modify this spelling. --> Sextett<!-- Please do not modify this spelling. --> (with two t's at the end). The six albums the group recorded feature some of his most accessible work, notably on the album ''[[You Know the Number]]''.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> The group's unorthodox instrumentation included two drummers, double bass, cello, trumpet, and trombone, in addition to Threadgill's alto saxophone and flute.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> Among the players were drummers akLaff, [[John Betsch]], Reggie Nicholson and Newman Baker; bassist [[Fred Hopkins]]; cellist [[Diedre Murray]]; trumpeters Rasul Siddik and Ted Daniels; [[cornet]]ist [[Olu Dara]]; and trombonists [[Ray Anderson (musician)|Ray Anderson]], [[Frank Lacy]], Bill Lowe, and [[Craig S. Harris (trombonist)|Craig Harris]].

During the 1990s, Threadgill pushed the musical boundaries even further with his ensemble Very Very Circus.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> The group consisted of two tubas, two electric guitars, a trombone or French horn, and drums. With this group he explored more complex and highly structured forms of composition, augmenting the group with Latin percussion, French horn, violin, accordion, vocalists, and exotic instruments. He composed and recorded with other unusual instruments, such as a flute quartet (Flute Force Four, a one-time project from 1990); and combinations of four cellos and four acoustic guitars (on ''Makin' a Move'').

He was signed by [[Columbia Records]] for three albums. Since the dissolution of Very Very Circus, Threadgill has continued in his iconoclastic ways with ensembles such as Make a Move and Zooid. Zooid, currently a sextet with tuba (Jose Davila), acoustic guitar ([[Liberty Ellman]]), cello (Christopher Hoffman), drums (Elliot Kavee) and bass guitar ([[Stomu Takeishi]]), has been the primary vehicle for Threadgill's compositions in the 2000s.

In 2018, Threadgill composed the string quartet "Sixfivetwo" for the [[Kronos Quartet]], which they recorded as part of their "Fifty for the Future" project.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.50ftf.kronosquartet.org/composers/henry-threadgill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209043555/http://50ftf.kronosquartet.org/composers/henry-threadgill |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2020 |title=Henry Threadgill: Sixfivetwo |website=Kronosquartet.com |access-date=February 1, 2021 }}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
In 2016, Threadgill's composition ''In for a Penny, In for a Pound'' was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/04/18/winners-and-finalists-for-pulitzer-prize/8nPiW6PyXbZVQvgb4yxwJI/story.html |title= Winners and finalists for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize |author= [[Associated Press]] |work= [[The Boston Globe]] |date= April 18, 2016 |access-date= December 27, 2023 |archive-date= December 27, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231227110041/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/04/18/winners-and-finalists-for-pulitzer-prize/8nPiW6PyXbZVQvgb4yxwJI/story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2016, he received the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in the Arts Award,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrythreadgill.com/awards|title=AWARDS|website=Henrythreadgill.com|access-date=August 2, 2021}}</ref> at the VVA National Leadership Conference in Tucson.

"Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High" (conducted by [[Hale Smith]]) and "Mix for Orchestra" (conducted by [[Dennis Russell Davies]]), were both premiered at the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] in 1987 and 1993 respectively. He has had commissions from Mordine & Company in 1971 and 1989, from [[Carnegie Hall]] for "Quintet for Strings and Woodwinds" in 1983 and 1985, the [[New York Shakespeare Festival]] in 1985, [[Bang on a Can All-Stars]] in 1995, "Peroxide" commissioned by the [[Miller Theatre]] [[Columbia University]] in 2003 for "Aggregation Orb", a commission from the Talujon Percussion Ensemble in 2008, a piece "Fly Fliegen Volar" commissioned and premiered at the [[Saalfelden]] Jazz Festival with the Junge Philharmonie [[Salzburg]] Orchestra in 2007, a premier of the piece "Mc Guffins" with Zooid at the Biennale Festival in Italy in 2004.

In May 2020 he was presented with an honorary doctor of music by the University of Pennsylvania. 

In October 2020, the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] (NEA) announced Threadgill as one of four recipients of the [[NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships]], celebrated in an online concert and show on April 22, 2021. Awarded in recognition of lifetime achievement, the honor is bestowed on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form. The other 2021 recipients were [[Terri Lyne Carrington]], [[Albert Heath|Albert "Tootie" Heath]], and [[Phil Schaap]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beete |first1=Paulette |title=Congratulations to the 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters |url=https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2020/congratulations-2021-national-endowment-arts-jazz-masters |website=Arts.gov |date=October 21, 2020 |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130052434/https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2020/congratulations-2021-national-endowment-arts-jazz-masters |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2024 he received a [[PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award|PEN Oakland – Josephine Miles Award]] for ''Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music'', coauthored with [[Brent Hayes Edwards]].

== Personal life ==
Threadgill was born in Chicago.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org/henry-threadgill/|title=Henry Threadgill|website=Hyde Park Jazz Festival|language=en-US|access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042445/https://www.hydeparkjazzfestival.org/henry-threadgill/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He studied piano, flute, and composition at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and Governors State University, in University Park, Illinois.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Threadgill|title=Henry Threadgill, American musician|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=November 23, 2017|language=en}}</ref> He was a member of the US Army Concert Band, and served in Vietnam.<ref>{{Citation|title=Henry Threadgill: Dirt, and More Dirt|date=May 2017 |url=http://www.wqxr.org/story/henry-threadgill-dirt-and-more-dirt/|language=en|access-date=November 23, 2017}} Meet the Composer Podcast, WXQR.</ref> He is married to recording artist and ethnomusicologist Senti Toy, also known as Sentienla Toy Threadgill.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eclecticnortheast.in/2016/10/know-pulitzer-prize-winner-henry-threadgills-ne-connect/|title=Did You Know About Pulitzer Prize Winner Henry Threadgill's NE Connect?|date=October 15, 2016|website=Eclectic Northeast}}</ref>

==Discography==
===As leader/co-leader===
'''Air'''
* 1975: ''[[Air Song]]'' ([[Why Not Records|Why Not]])
* 1976: ''[[Air Raid (album)|Air Raid]]'' (Why Not)
* 1977: ''[[Live Air]]'' ([[Black Saint Records|Black Saint]])
* 1977: ''[[Air Time]]'' ([[Nessa Records|Nessa]])
* 1978: ''[[Open Air Suit]]'' (Arista/[[Novus Records|Novus]])
* 1978: ''[[Montreux Suisse]]'' (Arista/Novus)
* 1979: ''[[Air Lore]]'' (Arista/Novus)
* 1980: ''[[Air Mail (album)|Air Mail]]'' (Black Saint)
* 1982: ''[[80° Below '82]]'' ([[Antilles Records|Antilles]])
* 1983: ''[[Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival]]'' (as New Air) (Black Saint)
* 1986: ''[[Air Show No. 1]]'' (as New Air with [[Cassandra Wilson]]) (Black Saint)

'''X-75'''
* 1979: ''[[X-75 Volume 1]]'' (Arista/Novus) 
'''Henry Threadgill <!-- Please do not modify this spelling. -->Sextett'''<!-- Please do not modify this spelling. -->
* 1982: ''[[When Was That?]]'' (About Time)
* 1983: ''[[Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket]]'' (About Time)
* 1984: ''[[Subject to Change (Henry Threadgill album)|Subject to Change]]'' (About Time)
* 1987: ''[[You Know the Number]]'' (Arista/Novus)
* 1988: ''[[Easily Slip Into Another World]]'' (Arista/Novus)
* 1989: ''[[Rag, Bush and All]]'' (Arista/Novus)

'''Society Situation Dance Band'''
* 1988: ''Live in Hamburg'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhpKRJYZPUE&t=687s&ab_channel=redobstacle

'''Very Very Circus'''
* 1990: ''[[Spirit of Nuff...Nuff]]'' (Black Saint)
* 1991: ''[[Live at Koncepts]]'' (Taylor Made)
* 1993: ''[[Too Much Sugar for a Dime]]'' ([[Axiom (record label)|Axiom]])
* 1993: ''[[Song Out of My Trees]]'' (Black Saint)
* 1994: ''[[Carry the Day (album)|Carry the Day]]'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]])
* 1995: ''[[Makin' a Move]]'' (Columbia)

'''Make a Move'''
* 1996: ''[[Where's Your Cup?]]'' (Columbia)
* 2001: ''[[Everybodys Mouth's a Book]]'' ([[Pi Recordings|Pi]])

'''Zooid'''
* 2001: ''[[Up Popped the Two Lips]]'' (Pi)
* 2005: ''[[Pop Start the Tape, StoP]]'' (Hardedge)
* 2009: ''[[This Brings Us to Volume 1]]'' (Pi)
* 2010: ''[[This Brings Us to Volume 2]]'' (Pi )
* 2012: ''[[Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp]]'' (Pi)
* 2015: ''[[In for a Penny, In for a Pound]]'' (Pi)
* 2021: ''[https://pirecordings.com/albums/poof/ Poof]'' (Pi)

'''Ensemble Double Up'''
* 2016: ''[[Old Locks and Irregular Verbs]]'' (Pi)
* 2018: ''[[Double Up, Plays Double Up Plus]]'' (Pi)

'''14 or 15 Kestra: Agg'''
* 2018: ''[[Dirt… And More Dirt]]'' (Pi)

'''Henry Threadgill Ensemble'''
* 2023: ''[https://pirecordings.com/albums/the-other-one/ The Other One]'' (Pi)

===As sideman===
'''With [[Muhal Richard Abrams]]'''
* ''[[Young at Heart/Wise in Time]]'' (1969)
* ''[[1-OQA+19]]'' (1977)
'''With [[Anthony Braxton]]'''
* ''[[For Trio]]'' (Arista, 1978)
'''With [[Chico Freeman]]'''
* ''[[Morning Prayer (album)|Morning Prayer]]'' (Whynot, 1976)
'''With [[Roscoe Mitchell]]'''
* ''[[Nonaah]]'' (Nessa, 1977)
* ''[[L-R-G / The Maze / S II Examples]]'' (Nessa, 1978)
'''With Frank Walton'''
* ''Reality'' (1978)
'''With [[David Murray (saxophonist)|David Murray]]'''
* ''[[Ming (album)|Ming]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Home (David Murray album)|Home]]'' (1981)
* ''[[Murray's Steps]]'' (1982)
'''With [[Material (band)|Material]] / [[Bill Laswell]]'''
* ''[[Memory Serves]]'' (1981)
* ''[[The Third Power]]'' (1991)
'''With [[Sly & Robbie]] / Bill Laswell'''
* ''[[Rhythm Killers]]'' (1987)
'''With [[Carlinhos Brown]] / Bill Laswell'''
* ''Bahia Black: Ritual Beating System'' (1991)
'''With [[Leroy Jenkins (jazz musician)|Leroy Jenkins]]'''
* ''[[Themes & Improvisations on the Blues]]'' (1992)
'''With [[Kip Hanrahan]]'''
* ''Darn It!'' (1992) with [[Paul Haines (poet)|Paul Haines]]
* ''A Thousand Nights and a Night (Shadow Night – 1)'' (1996)
'''With [[Billy Bang]]'''
* ''[[Hip Hop Be Bop]]'' (1993) with [[Craig S. Harris (trombonist)|Craig Harris]]
* ''[[Vietnam: Reflections]]'' (2005)
'''With Sola'''
* ''Blues in the East'' (1994)
'''With [[Abiodun Oyewole]]'''
* ''25 Years'' (1996)
'''With [[Flute Force Four]]''' (Threadgill, [[Pedro Eustache]], [[Melecio Magdaluyo]], [[James Newton]])
* ''Flutistry'' (1990, released 1997)
'''With [[Douglas Ewart]]'''
* ''Angles of Entrance'' (1998)
'''With [[Jean-Paul Bourelly]]'''
* ''Boom Bop'' (2000)
* ''Trance Atlantic – Boom Bop II'' (2001)
'''With [[Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw]]'''
* ''Gigi'' (2001)
'''With [[Lucky Peterson]]'''
* ''Black Midnight Sun'' (2002)
'''With [[Dafnis Prieto]]'''
* ''Absolute Quintet'' (2006)
'''With [[Wadada Leo Smith]]'''
* ''[[The Great Lakes Suites]]'' (2012, released 2014)
* ''[[The Chicago Symphonies]]'' (2021)
'''With [[Jack DeJohnette]]'''
* ''[[Made in Chicago]]'' (ECM, 2013 [2015]) with [[Muhal Richard Abrams]], [[Larry Gray]] and [[Roscoe Mitchell]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/threadgill.html Tribute by Dave Kaufman]
* [http://www.jazzhouse.org/library/index.php3?read=panken3 Interview on Columbia University's radio station]
* [https://ethaniverson.com/interview-with-henry-threadgill-part-1/ Interview]
* [https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/henry-threadgill-unedited Henry Threadgill unedited], Wire interview, July 2010
* [http://discography.backstrom.se/threadgill Illustrated Discography by Lars Backstrom]
{{Henry Threadgill}}
{{Air (free jazz trio)}}
{{PulitzerPrize Music 2011–2020}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Threadgill, Henry}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:American jazz flautists]]
[[Category:American male saxophonists]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American jazz alto saxophonists]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Columbia Records artists]]
[[Category:Pi Recordings artists]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners]]
[[Category:Air (free jazz trio) members]]
[[Category:21st-century American saxophonists]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Illinois]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American flautists]]
[[Category:NEA Jazz Masters]]