 Henry
Threadgill (born in Chicago, 1944) is both a composer and
multi-instrumentalist. He studied at the American Conservatory
of Music in Chicago, where there was no such thing as jazz.
"I became a clarinet player; I played Poulenc, Hindemith….".
He co-majored in piano and flute, along with composition.
He won't limit himself by calling himself a jazz musician
or, for that matter, by putting himself in any other category.
Threadgill's music has been performed by many of his highly
acclaimed, long-lasting instrumental ensembles, including
the trio Air, the seven-piece Sextett, Very Very Circus,
twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, X-75, Make a
Move, and his current group Zooid. Aggregation Orb, another
of his current ensembles (Threadgill composes and conducts
the music, but does not play) mixes notated and improvised
music, a flexible and evolving form or format that allows
for guest-solo instruments to engage with the group. He
has recorded thirty albums as a leader of various ensembles.
Henry Threadgill's works for large orchestras, such as
˜Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High" (conducted
by Hale Smith), and "Mix for Orchestra" (conducted
by Dennis Russell Davies) were both premiered at the Brooklyn
Academy of Music in 1987 and 1993 respectively.
Henry Threadgill is an artist in a state of constant change,
and views his creative process as an ever-evolving one.
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