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Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer, Dafnis Prieto: Fifteen review – Pulitzer winner stirs gorgeous improv patterns
Henry Threadgill’s Fifteen is praised as a brilliant, accessiblely improvisatory album from the Pulitzer-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist, joined by pianist Vijay Iyer and Cuban percussionist Dafnis Prieto. The review argues that the trio’s shared strengths as composers and free improvisers make the record both structurally engaging and emotionally varied, moving between playfulness, urgency and reflection.
Released when Threadgill is 82, the album marks 15 years since the group first played together at a Jazz Gallery fundraiser in New York. Unlike Threadgill’s densely orchestrated 2016 Pulitzer-winning suite In for a Penny, In for a Pound, Fifteen focuses on the interaction of flute or saxophone, piano and drums, with highlights including the driving “Last Night”, the contemplative “Where Coconuts Fall” and Prieto’s Latin-inflected closing piece “On the Way”.
In short
- Threadgill’s trio delivers a highly praised improvisational jazz album.
- Fifteen favours intimate interplay over dense orchestration.
- Iyer and Prieto strongly complement Threadgill’s compositions.
Explained simply
Jazz improvisation is music shaped partly in the moment, as performers respond to one another rather than follow every note in a fixed score. Henry Threadgill is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work ranges from small groups to larger ensembles; his 2016 composition In for a Penny, In for a Pound won the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Pianist Vijay Iyer and Cuban percussionist Dafnis Prieto bring their own composing and improvising experience to the trio. They first played together at a New York fundraiser 15 years before this album was released, and their long collaboration provides context for the way the three musicians build and change musical ideas together.
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