Henry Threadgill — Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
Pi Recordings PI64. Ensemble Double Up.
2016 · Saxophonist, Copyist · with Henry Threadgill, Jason Moran, David Virelles, Roman Filiú, Jose Davila, Christopher Hoffman, Craig Weinrib
Alto saxophone in Henry Threadgill’s Ensemble Double Up. The record is Threadgill’s tribute to his late friend, the composer-conductor Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, and is built around the unusual pairing of two pianists, Jason Moran and David Virelles, with twin altos, tuba, cello, and drums. Threadgill himself does not play, freeing him to compose. The piece extends the interval-based system he developed with Zooid, loosened just enough that the dual pianos can open up the harmonic field; David Virelles likened the writing to “a maze that needs to be played very precisely, with interlocking phrases throughout.” Part Four turns elegiac, a slow dirge for Butch that rises to a crescendo and stops.
Voted best jazz album of 2016 in both the NPR and JazzTimes Critics Polls. Premiered at Winter Jazz Fest, January 2014, Judson Memorial Church.
Life of the work
- 2014-01 Premiere — Winter Jazz Fest, Judson Memorial Church, NYC. Commissioned by Winter Jazz Fest.
- 2016-04 Released — Pi Recordings PI64. Dedicated to Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris.
- 2016 Recognition — Voted best jazz album of 2016, NPR and JazzTimes Critics Polls.
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