Henry Threadgill
| Henry Threadgill | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Henry Luther Threadgill |
| Born |
February 15, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, avant-garde jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Arista/Novus, About Time, Black Saint, Columbia, Pi |
| Associated acts | Air, AACM, Muhal Richard Abrams, Billy Bang, Anthony Braxton, Craig Harris, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell |
Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, saxophonist, and flautist, who came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating non-jazz genres.
Threadgill studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, majoring in piano, flute, and composition. He studied piano with Gail Quillman and composition with Stella Roberts. He has been a bandleader and composer for over forty years. He was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his album In for a Penny, In for a Pound, which premiered at Roulette Intermedium on December 4, 2014
Threadgill has performed and recorded with several ensembles: Air, Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill Sextett, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.
Threadgill first performed as a percussionist in his high-school marching band before taking up baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, and flute. He was an original member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in his hometown of Chicago and worked under the guidance of Muhal Richard Abrams before leaving to tour with a gospel band. In 1967, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, playing with a rock band in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. He was discharged in 1969.
After returning to Chicago, he joined fellow AACM members bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall in a trio which would eventually become the group Air. Threadgill moved to New York City, where he formed his first group, X-75, a nonet consisting of four reed players, four bass players, and a vocalist.
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