Comments on: Twenty Years Ago

By: Everybody Get Footloose; Or, Six Degrees of Paul Bley | MP3 Music at MixBurner

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:06:33 +0000

[...] pleased to present another stellar guest post from longtime friend of the site Ethan Iverson, of The Bad Plus. A reminder that Do The Math remains essential reading [...]

By: Everybody Get Footloose; Or, Six Degrees of Paul Bley

Everybody Get Footloose; Or, Six Degrees of Paul Bley — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:15:39 +0000

[...] pleased to present another stellar guest post from longtime friend of the site Ethan Iverson, of The Bad Plus. A reminder that Do The Math remains essential reading [...]

By: charles

charles — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 04:59:14 +0000

I got turned on to Threadgill when I was grabbing my getback from someone that borrowed (read:stole) some of my Ellington. I grabbed Just the Facts and You Know the Number and got the better deal. Those albums pushed me back into Air and look forward to everyone of his releases. They were the albums that made me hear the continuity of whatever “jazz” is while simultaneously removing the walls I had around music called ‘Jazz” if that makes sense. I could replace the Ellington but if I didn’t get the Sextett then I wouldn’t be able to get it now. When I did replace the Ellington, I heard it with a new ear to composition and musical logic but not just jazz, all music. It is true many young musicians have not heard this stuff, but where would they? It is shameful that so much beautiful music discussed on this site, like Air and the Sextett will not see the light of day again. Has anyone heard the recently released album on Hardedge or the album that was supposed to be out in June of 06?
Thank you for this site and keep up the great work!!! It is a thrill to browse and learn about this music I’ve missed.

By: Sen

Sen — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:03:30 +0000

informative piece by Iverson thanks, I had no idea about the Dewars ad, I didnt even know you could drink a Dewars ! surprised Henry would be part of such an endorsement, but Mr Threadgill is a sax/composer/arranger genius, poorly served by record labels , much of the 80′s Sextett stuff has been outta print for too long, You know the Number is the probably the most straight jazz album he has made , why more jazz musicians have not listened I cant answer, but everyone should also hear : –
Rag, Bush and All
Just the Fact and Pass the Bucket
When was That
Air classic trio Air Lore, Live Air, Air Mail

By: bedworm

bedworm — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 07:41:12 +0000

Henry Threadgrill is one of my favourite, and i’m frightend by the counterpoint shown inâ??Theme from Thomas Coleâ?

By: Shannon

Shannon — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 18:57:12 +0000

I also rememeber that Threadgill ad. It came out when I was first getting interested in jazz. It led me to Threadgill’s music, and Air in particular, even though they were done by the time of that ad campaign. Air Lore is one of my all-time favorite jazz albums.

Thanks, Dewar’s, and thanks for the memory jog.

By: AK

AK — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:13:52 +0000

I totally remember that ad! The Dewar’s Profile series ran in various glossy mags such as The New Yorker in the
60s/70s to 80s, I think, and had various notables giving their opinions on life, the arts, their work,etc., capped by their drink of choice (Dewar’s, of course). Henry Threadgill’s profile had a tagline like “Dewar’s, AFTER the gig.” I clipped it out and hung it by the Jazz LPs at WCSB, the radio station at Cleveland State University (see website link) when I was a programmer there in the 80s.
Mr. Threadgill brought the Sextett to town to do a show at a fairly intimate venue about that time–very enjoyable.

By: godoggo

godoggo — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:15:30 +0000

…oh, yeah, and the other thing was something about using parades to promote your music, and a recommendation that participants write the AACM for more info, but I don’t remember if that was for Hemp or Thread.

By: godoggo

godoggo — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 04:44:03 +0000

Well, hell, I guess I’ll mention again, as I did in response to that Hemphill post a while back that, when I was a teenager, I went to a workshop the two of them did at John Carter’s Wind College, and, unlike Hemphill’s part, I actually remember something about what Threadgill did, so here goes: first he asked something along the lines of “What do you you want to get out of this,” eliciting mainly cheerful variations on “Whatever.” Then he went into something about getting away from repeated song structures. I also remember him saying “Leonard Feather bums me out,” at some point.

Then he passed out a piece that consisted of a chord progression that we were supposed to improvise over as a group, adding more instruments with each repetition. In retrospect I think what he had in mind was sort of a riff-based approach, but this wasn’t clear to me at the time, and, anyway, I was trying to learn to play through changes, so that’s what I did. I remember him asking me, “You hear the intervals he’s playing?” and I shrugged and said, “Yeah.” I think the result was more cacophonous than what he had in mind, but the non-playing atendees applauded enthusiastically.

I remember being very moved by the concert afterward, though, honestly, I’m not that nuts about the records I happen to have (“Easily Slip” and an obscure Air album whose title I don’t remember; the cover is a baboon showing his butt). I’ve liked the 2 Air Lore tracks I’ve heard OK, and I vaguely remember enjoying an Aklaff-era Air track and a Very Very Circus track. I remember entertaining idle fantasies about Rollins playing in one of these groups.

And, yes, I do remember the ad, now that you mention it.

By: peter breslin

peter breslin — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:42:30 +0000

Hey! Great stuff from one of Threadgill’s that I missed (I love easily slip into another world, featuring Aisha Putli, also love Rag Bush and All)– excellent structural analysis too; Threadgill is such an inspiring composer/arranger.

Ethan Iverson, if you read these comments, perhaps you can clear up a mystery: I recently worked on a project (led by Chris Jonas, formerly with Cecil T) involving a couple of the musicians from Birth. Somehow we were talking in the studio about Heernt which led to Happy Apple which led to speculation that The Bad Plus’s drummer, David King (who is in something like 17 different bands) must have been cloned, or he’s a holographic projection, or an android. Perhaps you’d care to comment?

peter b