Henry Threadgill has stories to tell

A new book, a new album, a related event (and more)

Here’s a fun parlor game: what other album titles could composer Henry Threadgill have repurposed for his amazing new memoir? He called it Easily Slip into Another World, but you don’t have to stray far to find alternatives. Subject to Change could fit the bill, though it’s nowhere near as evocative as Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket — or, for that matter, Makin’ a Move or Carry the Day. Of course, nothing would be more meta (or grammatically mischievous) than Everybodys Mouth’s a Book.

I think of Threadgill’s book as a mouth: charismatically part open, as in the toothy grin pictured above, but also prone to all manner of sharp, oracular admonitions. Which of course is true to form. In collaboration with Brent Hayes Edwards, a brilliant scholar and writer who has also proven to be a first-rate genius whisperer, Threadgill has created a literary work as provocative and destabilizing as his music. Easily Slip is a South Side Bildungsroman, a Vietnam War memoir, a creative manifesto, and a travelogue. It also houses many rich stories — like a backstage encounter with maestro Duke Ellington that animates this excerpt in Harper’s.

Threadgill and Edwards have done a handful of book-launch events, most recently at Rizzoli Bookstore on Tuesday. I’m honored to be joining them as host and interviewer for a special evening at MoMA on Tuesday, May 30. It begins with a performance of Threadgill music by David Virelles, Ben Street, and Andrew Cyrille. The composer will then read from his book, followed by our discussion and a signing.

By that point, Threadgill will be celebrating not only the publication of his book but also the release of an album on Pi Recordings, The Other One — a manifestation of his three-part piece “Of Valence,” inspired by the life and work (and lifework) of the late Milford Graves. Virelles is the pianist on the album, which features a 12-piece chamber ensemble conducted by Threadgill. (As in the premiere of The Other One at Roulette last year, he doesn’t play an instrument himself in the piece.)

I’ll share a summary of the MoMA event here, once we’re on the other side. For the moment, I want to thank you for reading The Gig. If you also support this Substack as a paid subscriber, read on for a few more thoughts about Easily Slip; an audio clip and some insights from my New York Times profile of Threadgill in 2009; and a concert review from the last time I met the maestro at MoMA, back in 2005.