Jump to content

Henry Threadgill

Lazaro Vega
 Share

Recommended Posts

mjazzg Grand Master

mjazzg

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 6:37 AM, David Ayers said:

Despie the tone of the piece, he is one of the few artists whose discs are all currently in print.

is "too much sugar for a dime" currently in print? Article and Discogs/Amazon prices suggests not and I don't recall it being on the Mosaic (not a Columbia release). I stand ready to be corrected though...

Enjoyed the article and the prospect of a new release is always welcome. London concert by Zooid last year was a masterclass in composition and group empathy

AllenLowe Proficient

AllenLowe

Posted
Posted (edited)

I like Threadgill's stuff only when he plays alto. The group seems to need it to energize the music, which can get a little ponderous.

though I clearly do not represent the American public in this respect.

funny thing is that on my last CD more than one critic seemed to be reminded of Threadgill, whom I have barely listened to.

Edited by AllenLowe
JETman Newbie

JETman

Posted
Posted (edited)

  On 4/2/2012 at 7:46 AM, mjazzg said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 6:37 AM, David Ayers said:

Despie the tone of the piece, he is one of the few artists whose discs are all currently in print.

is "too much sugar for a dime" currently in print? Article and Discogs/Amazon prices suggests not and I don't recall it being on the Mosaic (not a Columbia release). I stand ready to be corrected though...

Enjoyed the article and the prospect of a new release is always welcome. London concert by Zooid last year was a masterclass in composition and group empathy

"Too Much Sugar for a Dime" is NOT currently in print, and most of his discs are not either (except in the Mosaic and Black Saint boxes). It is a killer disc (one of the first ones I bought, and a sentimental favorite). I believe it was on Bill Laswell's label (Axiom?), and is well worth seeking out, IMHO.

Edited by JETman
David Ayers Newbie

David Ayers

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:01 PM, JETman said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 7:46 AM, mjazzg said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 6:37 AM, David Ayers said:

Despie the tone of the piece, he is one of the few artists whose discs are all currently in print.

is "too much sugar for a dime" currently in print? Article and Discogs/Amazon prices suggests not and I don't recall it being on the Mosaic (not a Columbia release). I stand ready to be corrected though...

Enjoyed the article and the prospect of a new release is always welcome. London concert by Zooid last year was a masterclass in composition and group empathy

"Too Much Sugar for a Dime" is NOT currently in print, and most of his discs are not either (except in the Mosaic and Black Saint boxes). It is a killer disc (one of the first ones I bought, and a sentimental favorite). I believe it was on Bill Laswell's label (Axiom?), and is well worth seeking out, IMHO.

Not in print except in box sets? That's in print in my book. Before the inexpensive Black Saint box was released the individual CDs were mainly available. The Sony's too had a long run. Can anybody who is even half-interested claim that they have not managed to acquire most of this stuff quite cheaply over recent years? The story can't always be that every jazz musician is a martyr to record companies.

JETman Newbie

JETman

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:39 PM, David Ayers said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:01 PM, JETman said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 7:46 AM, mjazzg said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 6:37 AM, David Ayers said:

Despie the tone of the piece, he is one of the few artists whose discs are all currently in print.

is "too much sugar for a dime" currently in print? Article and Discogs/Amazon prices suggests not and I don't recall it being on the Mosaic (not a Columbia release). I stand ready to be corrected though...

Enjoyed the article and the prospect of a new release is always welcome. London concert by Zooid last year was a masterclass in composition and group empathy

"Too Much Sugar for a Dime" is NOT currently in print, and most of his discs are not either (except in the Mosaic and Black Saint boxes). It is a killer disc (one of the first ones I bought, and a sentimental favorite). I believe it was on Bill Laswell's label (Axiom?), and is well worth seeking out, IMHO.

Not in print except in box sets? That's in print in my book. Before the inexpensive Black Saint box was released the individual CDs were mainly available. The Sony's too had a long run. Can anybody who is even half-interested claim that they have not managed to acquire most of this stuff quite cheaply over recent years? The story can't always be that every jazz musician is a martyr to record companies.

What's with the martyr stuff? I know there are many on this bored who like to deify musicians. I am not one of them! Just the fax, man.

All I was saying was that many of the INDIVIDUAL discs are not in print.

David Ayers Newbie

David Ayers

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:44 PM, JETman said:

All I was saying was that many of the INDIVIDUAL discs are not in print.

Well, I know that. But it is the article that talks about 'scandalous neglect' by the record companies, which is just exaggerated.

JETman Newbie

JETman

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:47 PM, David Ayers said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:44 PM, JETman said:

All I was saying was that many of the INDIVIDUAL discs are not in print.

Well, I know that. But it is the article that talks about 'scandalous neglect' by the record companies, which is just exaggerated.

Well, as far as the boxed sets go, in each case it took the care of a singular mind to re-release those albums. I'm not sure that qualifies as NON-neglect by the companies that originally issued these.

Why so angry? You must know that many (if not most) of these types of articles contain a fair amount of hyperbole.

robertoart Newbie

robertoart

Posted
Posted (edited)

A funny and interesting take on Henry Threadgill from the Stanley Crouch Ethan Iverson interview.

Love the way Stanley Crouch mentions 'some unlettered black person who should be the final arbiter of value'.

EI: You mention Henry Threadgill's Sextett in the book, and how good they sounded when you booked them into the Tin Palace. That band was an underrated, too-little known moment in the history of the music. [see also this post.]

SC: Definitely!

I'm one of those sentimental people who likes to think that there is some unlettered black person who should be the final arbiter of value, because they have absorbed the truth through their nostrils or something when eating collard greens and cornbread when growing up poor in the South. Blah, blah, blah---it's bullshit, of course.

EI: You mean the kind of character Morgan Freeman gets hired to play sometimes in the movies.

SC: Right! BUT…I will say, not in Henry Threadgill's defense, but in his celebration, that one night at the Tin Palace, this black guy--an uptown [Harlem] guy--happened to be on the Bowery and came in the club as Threadgill started to play. He stayed for all three sets and I talked to him a bit. He didn't know this band, but he was really moved and loved the music--thought they were really playing. There was something that Threadgill had with that band that could make this "unlettered soulful black arbiter of value" say it was the real deal. It was communicating to both people looking for the avant-garde and people who didn't even know there was an avant-garde.

If Threadgill had kept that band together--two drummers, trumpet, trombone, cello, Fred Hopkins and himself--then that band could have been right next to the Art Ensemble of Chicago. But I think there is something in Threadgill's personality that prevented him from keeping that band together--something like "when people start liking what he's doing, he's got to figure out something they don't like."

EI: Ornette can be a little like that, too.

SC: Kind of, yeah.

Threadgill did keep Air with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall together for a while, and really turned out New York with that trio. The records don't do them justice.

EI: I dig Hopkins. I admit I don't really like it when Air played the Jelly Roll Morton or ragtimes, but I really dig a record of all abstract music on Nessa called "Air Time."

SC: Man, they killed when they played the Jelly Roll live. Fred Hopkins was deep--I loved him, man. Do you have the Sextett albums What Was That? and Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket? Olu Dara sounds smoking on that one.

But for saxophone playing, when Arthur Blythe showed up, Threadgill felt the pressure. I remember that well, because Blythe had such a rich sound, and Threadgill didn't really have that.

---

Edited by freelancer
David Ayers Newbie

David Ayers

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 5:12 PM, JETman said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:47 PM, David Ayers said:

  On 4/2/2012 at 4:44 PM, JETman said:

All I was saying was that many of the INDIVIDUAL discs are not in print.

Well, I know that. But it is the article that talks about 'scandalous neglect' by the record companies, which is just exaggerated.

Well, as far as the boxed sets go, in each case it took the care of a singular mind to re-release those albums. I'm not sure that qualifies as NON-neglect by the companies that originally issued these.

Why so angry? You must know that many (if not most) of these types of articles contain a fair amount of hyperbole.

No I am not angry. Hype like this looks dumb, and it looks bad on the artists if dumb folks are backing their work.

JSngry Grand Master

JSngry

Posted
Posted

"Smart Hype" would be an oxymoron. Hype is supposed to be dumb. Smart people already know what the deal is.

It's nice to be right, but it's even more nice to have income, and it's even nicer still to have income from people who were brought to the right by the dumb.

Motherfuckers go broke playing for just to those in the know, ya' know?

JETman Newbie

JETman

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 6:50 PM, JSngry said:

"Smart Hype" would be an oxymoron. Hype is supposed to be dumb. Smart people already know what the deal is.

It's nice to be right, but it's even more nice to have income, and it's even nicer still to have income from people who were brought to the right by the dumb.

Motherfuckers go broke playing for just to those in the know, ya' know?

Very well said!

JSngry Grand Master

JSngry

Posted
Posted

  On 4/2/2012 at 7:44 PM, AllenLowe said:

I'm actually a little worried about myself - Stanley Crouch made perfect sense to me -

Whew, that's a relief. I was afraid I was the only one!

  • 5 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...