Roulette celebrates composer Henry Threadgill with two nights dedicated to ensembles from throughout his career.
Night ONE features recently formed “legacy” bands: Air Legacy Trio (Marty Ehrlich, Pheeroan akLaff, Hilliard Green) and Very Very Circus (Marcus Rojas, Chris Bates, Brandon Ross, Jose Davila, Miles Okazaki, Gene Lake, Noah Becker).
Night TWO features recently formed “legacy” bands: The Sextett (Frank Lacy – trombone, Jonathan Finlayson – trumpet, Mike Lee – flute/alto flute/clarinet/alto sax, Christopher Hoffman – cello, Ken Filiano – bass, Newman Taylor Baker – drums, Reggie Nicholson – drums) and Make a Move (Brandon Ross, Darius Jones, David Virelles, Stomu Takeishi, JT Lewis).
The collective trio AIR (Henry Threadgill/Fred Hopkins/Steve McCall) galvanized with a bold voice in the searing music-art revolution coming from the AACM and Black Artist Group (BAG) collectives in the Midwest, on out into the world. In 2024, Pulitzer Prize Composer and multi-instrumentalist Henry Threadgill asked his long-time colleagues Pheeroan akLaff and Marty Ehrlich to engage with his celebrated compositions for AIR. Enlisting dynamic bassist Hillard Greene, the Air Legacy Trio gave its initial performance in 2024 to great acclaim at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville Tennessee.
“Through the inheritance whereby the intangibility of music is ed to another runner. In this moment the very rare Air Legacy Trio.” —Henry Threadgill
“Marty Erhlich, Pheeroan akLaff, and Hilliard Greene updated the magic of Threadgill, Steve McCall and Fred Hopkins with the kind of consideration and respect needed to make the supple, AACM-steeped interplay blossom anew.” —Jim Macnie, The Jazz Gallery
AIR LEGACY TRIO
Marty Ehrlich saxophones, flutes, percussion
Hillard Greene bass, percussion
Pheeroan akLaff drums and cymbals, percussion
The eclectic sounds and aggregation of musicians of Threadgill’s renowned ensemble Very, Very Circus is reexplored in this unique reunion. This Legacy Project intends to reactivate a special time of music creation that started 1991 with the debut release of Very, Very Circus: Spirit Of Nuff…Nuff. It is about reviving this music by Henry Threadgill, this decisive phase of his compositional and artistic work—the extraordinary line-up with two tubas and two electric guitars opened up a new level of sound experience. In Threadgill’s words: “I thought of the coupled instruments like the two rails of a train track – one tuba and one guitar on each rail. They could be running along parallel to one another but doing completely different things.” So Henry Threadgill describes the character of this ensemble, following his Sextett, in his biography: “Very Very Circus! The ebullience of it – the sheer too-muchness! That’s was that sound world was about.”
Very Very Circus
Marcus Rojas tuba
Chris Bates bass
Brandon Ross guitar
Jose Davila trombone
Miles Okazaki guitar
Gene Lake drums
Noah Becker alto sax
