9 NOVEMBER: N.B., THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. You can see the results, and the reveal, here.

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It’s been a while since we last offered any free booty to our kind, good-looking, abnormally intelligent, and generous readership. Welcome to the latest D:O contest, brought to you by the fine folks at Pi Recordings, and Henry Threadgill.

CONTEST ONE – Blindfold, please.

The blindfold test. We’ve posted an mp3, above, stripped of identifying tags or details. Write us at the email address on the sidebar [see below Who?] with your guess of the name of the tune and/or the musician(s) responsible. You have until this Friday at midnight EST to get us your answers. We will throw all correct and partially correct answers in a hat and draw a winner.

CONTEST TWO – Roll ‘em.

This contest is simple: We’re thinking of a number between 1 and 100. Leave your guess in the comments section of this entry; one number only, please. You have until this Friday at midnight EST to make your guess. Please be sure not to duplicate anyone else’s number. And please only enter once. The lucky soul who guesses the right digits — or comes closest — wins.

CONTEST THREE — See our Twitter feed for details.

Feel free to enter all three!

OUR FABULOUS PRIZES:

Pi and Threadgill have made it possible for us to provide three signed copies of This Brings Us To, Volume 1, the latest from Threadgill’s wonderful Zooid band. When we spoke to Threadgill last month about the recording of this album, he made it plain (1) how hot this band was when making this disc, recording in essentially one take after coming off tour; and (2) how little he relies on the record-making process as anything other than a way to capture how a current band sounds. The man is not in a hurry to make CDs, so this is literally a rare opportunity.

To get another perspective on this disc, we conversed via email with guitarist and producer Liberty Ellman. Ellman echoed Threadgill on the timing of the recording: “The album was recorded right after we came home from a 3-week European tour. Henry wanted to record the album in the same way we had been playing the shows, with the same (or close to the same) set order.” Ellman also spoke to what it’s like to play in Zooid:

Its a great joy to play Henry’s music, it has all of the elements you could want as a performer: challenging repertoire written very specifically for your instrument, extremely wide dynamic range, very grooving but not overly obvious, and as detailed as it is, there is lots of room for you to fit your personality into the music. Most importantly it’s really fun to play.

None of which would be possible without the full commitment of everyone in the band. Liberty again:

Henry is very prolific. There are always new pieces being added to the book, and even the old pieces are constantly reworked. In some ways you never play the same piece twice. Everyone in the band has worked with Henry for several years now, so the communication is on a very high level. I think its pretty rare to be in a group where the group listening and interplay is so mature. That can only come from a lot of rehearsal and a lot of playing together.

Threadgill was also quick to point out the integral role rehearsals can play in the life of the creative musician, if only given the opportunity.

In any event, we’re hoping you are able to take advantage of this opportunity — best of luck!