Of course, this trio is a supergroup, like so many of pianist Vijay Iyer’s latest ensembles.
Percussionist Dafnis Prieto may be less well-known, but the now 82-year-old saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill is all the more so. Despite his age, he has been more productive and acclaimed than ever. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his most important work of the past 15 years, In for a Penny, In for a Pound (Zooid; 2015). It’s possibly the most consistent realization of Threadgill’s compositional system, in which he works with predetermined interval sequences that provide the musicians with a harmonic and melodic framework within which they are also expected to improvise - that is, improvisation itself becomes part of a highly complex composition. What’s fascinating about this is that the music initially seems almost chaotic, but is in fact organized with extraordinary precision. As intellectually fascinating as this music is on the one hand, it has also faced criticism on the other hand, that the whole thing is too contrived and too lifeless, too close to new classical avant-garde music. That kind of criticism can certainly not applied to “Fifteen”.
The album title refers to the number of years that have passed since this trio first came together at a benefit event for the New York Jazz Gallery. Here, all three compose and improvise; recurring melodic patterns are readily - even eagerly - embraced, bringing the music closer to mainstream jazz than to free jazz. This is primarily due to Dafnis Prieto’s Cuban influences and his light, elastic groove, which remains free and almost impossible to count. This is perhaps most clearly evident in “I Want a Map”, which comes across more like a rock song, with Threadgill’s saxophone initially taking up the melody, which is developed by the piano and built up relatively straightforwardly by the drums to a crescendo. Rarely has Threadgill sounded so accessible; he uses a fair amount of growl, and his clear sound from the Air years is barely recognizable. But he wouldn’t be Henry Threadgill if he didn’t gradually incorporate small atonal elements and offbeat shifts that disrupt the piece’s static structure.
Things get significantly wilder on “Fire City“, then. Prieto plays less to the beat. Here, he actually acts more like a free jazz drummer. Iyer, too, plays fewer tonal harmonies, and Threadgill’s sound is indeed clearer and more abstract on this track. The piece is denser, less airy than others on the album, but perhaps that’s precisely what makes it the most exciting, as it gallops off in different directions several times without ever losing its way.
The most unusual track is the album’s finale, “On the Way”. Here, the different compositional and improvisational logics stand in direct contrast to one another: Henry Threadgill’s carefully balanced vocabulary meets the rhythmic power and temporal sophistication of Iyer and Prieto, opening up spaces for dense ensemble polyrhythms and incisive solo passages. At times, you can literally tap your foot along - you almost feel like dancing. Who would ever have expected that from an album featuring Henry Threadgill?
This is definitely one of the albums that will appear on many year-end charts.
Fifteen is available on vinyl, as a CD and as a download. You can listen to it and buy it on Vijay Iyer’s bandcamp site:
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