Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Henry Threadgill was born February 15, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois and first performed as a percussionist in his high school marching band before taking up the baritone saxophone and later a large portion of the woodwind instruments. He soon settled upon the alto saxophone and flute as his main instruments.

He was one of the original members of the legendary AACM – Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in Chicago, working under the guidance of Muhal Richard Abrams before leaving to tour with a gospel band. In 1967, he enlisted in the Army, playing with a rock band in Vietnam through 1968. Discharged in 1969 he returned to Chicago, formed a trio that eventually became “Air”, one of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed avant-garde jazz groups of the 1970s and 1980s.

Threadgill had moved to New York City and began pursuing his own musical visions, exploring musical genres in innovative ways with his first nonet X-75. In the early Eighties, Threadgill created the Henry Threadgill Sextet, his first critically acclaimed ensemble as a leader, with two drummers as a single unit. He has recorded three albums under X-75 for About Time Records, reformed his sextet and released three albums on the Novus label.

Since the 90s Threadgill has continued to compose, create, perform and record music with various group configurations such as “Very Very Circus” and “Zooid” utilizing electric guitars, French horn, Latin percussion, accordion, cello and tuba.

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