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Jennifer Lucy Allan speaks to jazz saxophonist, flautist, bandleader and composer Henry Threadgill about his musical journey, and the mixtape he has crafted for the show.

One of only three jazz artists to have won a Pulitzer Prize, Threadgill has been called ‘perhaps the most important jazz composer of his generation’ by The New York Times.

He was born in Chicago in 1944, and after dabbling in percussion and clarinet he took up the sax aged 16. Soon after, he joined Muhal Richard Abrams’ Experimental Band, which later expanded into the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

For over forty years, he has been celebrated as one of the most forward-thinking composers and multi-instrumentalists in American music. Throughout his career he has led critically acclaimed ensembles, including the 1970s trio AIR (Artists In Residence) with fellow AACM members, the Henry Threadgill Sextett and the boundary-pushing Very Very Circus. His longest running band and now primary music-making vehicle is Zooid, the Pulitzer-Prize winning ensemble with which he continues his explorations into improvisations and polyphony.

For this Late Junction mixtape, Threadgill guides us through some of his musical inspirations, from Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman, to Edgard Varèse and James Joyce.

Produced by Katie Callin and Jack Howson.
A Reduced Listening Production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3.