Today’s Sounds: Henry Threadgill Zooid
Henry Threadgill was among the earliest members of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Having participated in polka, Dixieland and big band jam sessions, and having studied modern classical composers like Varèse and Hindemith, Threadgill was built for the AACM’s eclectic approach.
He’s led several bands over the ensuing decades, most notably Air with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall, and Very Very Circus, a sextet featuring the unusual line-up of two tubas, two guitars and drums, along with Threadgill’s saxophones and flutes. Zooid has been around since 2001 and continues in this tradition of innovation within non-standard instrumentation.