2016 · Album
Old Locks and Irregular Verbs
Recorded 2015 · Pi Recordings · Produced by not specified in verified sources
Threadgill Conducts a Septet Without His Saxophone
Despite containing no saxophone, Old Locks and Irregular Verbs remains pure Threadgill—a highlight among many classics.
Old Locks and Irregular Verbs arrived as a significant statement, and critics recognized it immediately. Stereophile's Fred Kaplan called it Threadgill's true career milestone and one of the great jazz compositions in recent years. All About Jazz gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Pitchfork's Seth Colter Walls noted the album's most striking paradox: despite the absence of Threadgill's own saxophone—his defining voice for decades—the work remained unmistakably his. This was deliberate. Threadgill formed Ensemble Double Up, a septet, to serve a specific purpose: conducting an extended composition dedicated to Lawrence D. Butch Morris, the cornetist and conductor who died in 2013. Morris and Threadgill had been colleagues on the New York City jazz scene, both appearing on David Murray's Ming (1980). Rather than perform alongside the ensemble, Threadgill stepped into the role of conductor, reshaping his relationship to the music entirely. The band features Jason Moran and David Virelles on piano, Román Filiú and Curtis Macdonald on alto saxophone, Craig Weinrib on drums, Jose Davila on tuba, and Christopher Hoffman on cello. What emerges is dense, layered writing that rewards close listening—the kind of orchestral thinking Threadgill had been developing throughout his career, now freed from the constraint of playing an instrument himself. Down Beat's Bill Meyer observed that while Threadgill doesn't shape the music spontaneously the way Morris did, he ensures transitions between full-band passages and smaller interactions happen with absolute clarity and momentum.
Who's playing
Jason Moranpiano
David Virellespiano
Román Filiúalto saxophone
Curtis Macdonaldalto saxophone
Craig Weinribdrums
Jose Davilatuba
Christopher Hoffmancello
Where next?
More by Henry Threadgill
All 14 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
