Label: Pi Recordings, 2023
Personnel - Henry Threadgill: composer, conductor; Alfredo Colón: alto sax; Noah Becker: alto sax, clarinet; Peyton Pleninger: tenor sax; Sara Schoenbeck: bassoon; Adam Cordero: bassoon; Jose Davila: tuba; David Virelles: piano; Craig Weinrib: percussion, electronics; Sara Caswell: violin; Stephanie Griffin: viola; Mariel Roberts: cello; Christopher Hoffman: cello.
The compositional brilliance and unique musical character of saxophonist Henry Threadgill are on full display in his latest album, The Other One, a three-movement composition inspired by the work of the late creative drummer Milford Graves and executed by a 12-piece ensemble of reliable musicians. With Threadgill conducting, the group jaunts through 19 tracks devised with complex notated music, often with intervallic and timbral obstinacy, but with room for improvisation.
“Mvt I, sections 1-2” is put in motion by Virelles’ solo piano playing, informed by a self-confident if inquisitive expression that balances the tender and the riotous. This is followed by “Mvt I, section 3”, where the strings have no competitors. Yet, the first track that really grabs us by the throat is “Mvt I, sections 6A-7A”, where the introductory piano gives way to a ruminative saxophone soliloquy that, a minute after, is supported by a tightly woven tapestry. And how that tuba throbs along!
As expected, there’s enough angularity in the phrases to make us travel unexplored places. After an interlude where the drummer Craig Winrib claims the spotlight, we have the joyful collective greeting of “Mvt I, Finale”, delivered with that odd bounce for which the composer is known. The bassoon solo stands out here among the individual statements.
“Movement II” is a 16-minute fresco tinted with modern classical and chamber techniques of rare melodic quality. A saxophone solo stirs conspicuous energy, instigating the other band members to swarm in their buzzing activity. But there are also quiet moments of abstraction that potentiate the communication with the string players. The piece then propagates into a disciplined cacophony that ends up in a swirl of motifs.
Two sections stick out from the third movement, which I consider the strongest. They are “Mvt III, section 12-12B”, a gripping episode where an authoritative alto sax interacts with violin in the denouement, and “Mvt III, section 14”, which, denoting further swinging flexibility during a saxophone solo that feels simultaneously fiery and lyrical, still sticks to that march-like gait infused with staccatos and stop-start motions.
Threadgill is found in whip-cracking form as a composer. This is an imaginative musical achievement executed by talented musicians who don’t vacillate when in command of their instruments.
Favorite Tracks:
05 - Mvt I, sections 6A-7A ► 12 - Mtv III, sections 12-12B ► 15 - Mvt III, section 14