Cut You Where You Was finds American reed master and composer Henry Threadgill (b. 1944) leading his flagship band for the last twenty-five years, Zooid, five years after Poof (Pi Recordings, 2021), with the same musicians and its odd instrumentation- guitarist Liberty Ellman (who also mixed and mastered the album), tubaist-trombonist Jose Davila, cellist Christopher Hoffman, drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, and Threadgill on alto saxophone, flute, and bass flute. The album was recorded in June 2025.
The collective, chamber ensemble Zooid is named after the biological term for an individual animal that connects to others to form a single organism. The aptly titled Zooid is well-versed in Threadgill’s complex and demanding, interval-based compositional system and its distinct syntax that reimagines harmonic relationships while granting unusual, non-hierarchical freedom to the five musicians navigating them. This ensemble knows how to think inside Threadgill’s inner logic and how to negotiate its organically flowing but unpredictable structures with the overlapping pulses, where every decision alters the balance of the whole.
The music sounds like an opinionated, telepathic conversation, but one that always demands deep listening and perpetual recalculation of its courses and grooves, and keeps incorporating urgent, risk-taking, and expansive elements. Thradgill continues to act as a thoughtful, commanding instigator, with an alto sax playing that has a vocal quality, with echoes of blues and gospel, deep lyricism, and sudden humour.
The 12-minute centrepiece «Red Admiral Red Moon Rising» offers enough room to develop Threadgill’s radical, imaginative ideas patiently, but it is the exception here. Most of the pieces are brief and economical miniatures, around two minutes, inspired by Threadgill’s fascination with early recording technologies.
The cover photo, taken by Threadgill himself, captures a butterfly resting on his head, suggesting how his music soars and blossoms in elusive, surprising ways. Threadgill still demands deep listening from both musicians and listeners, to listen beyond habit and hear beyond expectation. It is, as always, an insightful and thought-provoking experience.
Eyal Haareuveni
Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, flute, bass flute), Liberty Ellman (acoustic guitar), Jose Davila (tuba, trombone), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums)
