Jazz Icon Henry Threadgill Wins Pulitizer Prize

By Bobby Reed I Apr. 21, 2016

Henry Threadgill
(Photo: Courtesy Pi Recordings)

Composer and reedist Henry Threadgill has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his 2015 album In For A Penny, In For A Pound, which was recorded with his ensemble Zooid and released by the Pi Recordings label.

On the album, Threadgill (saxophones, flutes) is accompanied by Liberty Ellman (guitar), Jose Davila (trombone, tuba), Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums, percussion) and Christopher Hoffman (cello, violin).

Threadgill joins an elite group of jazz musicians who have received the honor, including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (whose oratorio Blood On The Fields won a Pulitzer in 1997) and the late saxophonist Ornette Coleman (whose album Sound Grammar won in 2007).

Threadgill’s new album, Old Locks And Irregular Verbs (Pi), will be reviewed in the June issue of DownBeat, which arrives on newsstands on May 17.

To read more about In For A Penny, In For A Pound, visit the Pi Recordings website.

To see the complete list of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize honorees, click here.