Picks
Last Friday, May 2, Henry Threadgill showcased Listen Ship, scored for six guitars, two pianos, and two basses. The players listed included Gregg Belisle-Chi, Rahul Carlberg, Bill Frisell, Jerome Harris, Maya Keren, Miles Okazaki, Brandon Ross, and Stomu Takeishi, with Threadgill conducting. Then, over the weekend, photos showed up online of the group in the studio, again with Threadgill conducting, marking one of two significant Threadgill announcements coming (more below).
Given their participation in the ensemble, I wanted to take a moment and highlight two excellent, recent albums.
Miles Okazaki - Miniature America (2024) For anyone who has spent time in Okazaki’s sound-world, this one will feel delightfully and slyly metamorphosed, stretching himself and his ensemble. Musically, it’s a gorgeous statement of intent and an invitation to eager audiences to spend time listening deeply. This is something I’m often looking for in an album, not just rewarding revisiting but actively pulling me in, each time with a warm welcome.
Tim Berne - Yikes Too (2025) A new Berne trio, huzzah! This one brings together middle Berne and later Berne, with Tom Rainey on drums and Belisle-Chi on guitar. I hadn’t heard Belisle-Chi until he started playing, then playing with, Berne’s music. I saw them in duo a couple years ago here in LA, and they’re a superb match—I’ve found Belisle-Chi’s occasionally forays towards shoegazey washes of distortion to counter Berne’s punctuated melodies absolutely delightful.
Misc.
And now for more Threadgill. Putting this under the Misc. header because 1) I haven’t heard much of this year; and 2) I’m not really 100% sure what the total final product will look like and/or include.
Baker’s Dozen is apparently a forthcoming 13-disc set, which going by the sampler Aperitif released later this month, will hit just about every possible area of Threadgill’s music one can imagine.
The studio photos mentioned above came from Pi Recordings and showed Listen Ship in the recording stage. Massively excited for this, as I hope are many of you!
https://www.instagram.com/pirecordings/p/DJPVF8egp3l/
https://www.instagram.com/pirecordings/p/DJPkW2XPbu8/