We are excited to tell you about a new publication that we think you will enjoy. Burning Ambulance is a quarterly journal of the arts. The writers who contribute have chosen an in-depth approach in opposition to the glib, superficial treatment commonly afforded popular culture in mainstream, advertising-dependent magazines. Contributing writers include: Matt Cibula, Philip Freeman, Kurt Gottschalk, Stephen Haynes, and Phil Nugent. We would like to thank Burning Ambulance for featuring an insightfully written 8000 word piece on Henry Threadgill and his music in its premier issue. Please take a moment to learn more about Burning Ambulance and enjoy.

posted March 17, 2010 by Seth

There will be a musical memorial service for the great bassist Sirone, who passed away on October 21, 2009. It will be held:

Thursday, February 25th, 7:00 P.M.
St. Peter’s Church
619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street
New York, New York 10022

Many incredible musicians, will be on hand for the memorial, with surprise guests:

Andrew Cyrille, Ahmed Abdullah, Billy Bang, Jerome Cooper, Dave Burrell, Henry Grimes, Jason Kao Hwang, Ras Moshe, Hill Greene, Charles Waters, Andrew Barker, Adam Roberts, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Jr., Matt Lavelle, Ramsey Ameen, Michael Wimberley, Abdoulaye N’Diaye, Muhammad Ali, Kali. Z. Fasteau, Juma Sultan, Ted Daniel, Lawrence Clark, Bobby Kapp, Reggie Nicholson, Vattel Cherry

We hope you are able to join us in celebrating Sirone’s beautiful life.

posted February 1, 2010 by Yulun

The German magazine Jazz Thing selected Pi Recordings’ releases Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 and Steve Lehman Octet - Travail, Transformation, and Flow as the #1 and #2 best jazz releases of 2009! Thanks to all the critics who voted for us. It’s gratifying to see that great music knows no boundaries.

posted January 31, 2010 by Yulun

Muhal Richard Abrams will be honored at Lincoln Center next Tuesday January 12th with a 2010 NEA Jazz Masters Award. The ceremony and concert will be broadcast live on WBGO 88.3FM and can be heard via their stream HERE.

Josh Jackson’s most recent edition of The Checkout on WBGO features an interview with Muhal. Listen to it HERE.

posted January 7, 2010 by Seth

We would like to thank the 99 journalists who participated in the Fourth Annual Village Voice Jazz Poll and who helped to make Henry Threadgill’s This Brings Us To, volume 1 the #2 recording of 2009 and Steve Lehman’s Travail, Transformation and Flow #5.

We would also like to thank the Wall Street Journal and Larry Blumenfeld for naming Henry’s recording the #1 release of 2009.

Happy New Year to all from Pi Recordings.

posted December 30, 2009 by Seth

Special thanks to Jazz Times and the New York Times for their support:

New York Times Year End Best of List
Nat Chinen
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow #1
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To Vol.1, #3
Ben Ratliff
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow #5

Jazz Times Top 50 Releases of 2009
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To Vol.1, # 4
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow #11

PopMatters.com Best of Jazz 2009
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow #6
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To Vol.1, #7

posted December 21, 2009 by Intern

Year end polls are starting to come in. We would like to thank the following critics for their support:

Bill Milkowski
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1, # 1

Steve Feeney
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To Vol.1, # 3

Jason Crane
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow, # 9

Michael J. West
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation & Flow, # 7

Howard Mandel
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1, # 1
Steve Lehman Octet - Travail, Transformation, and Flow, # 5

Hank Shteamer
Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Volume 1, # 6

David R. Adler
Steve Lehman Octet - Travail Transformation & Flow, # 5

Christian Broecking Henry Threadgill Zooid - This Brings Us To, Vol. 1, # 2
Steve Lehman Octet - Travail, Transformation, and Flow, # 3

We would also like the thank Nate Chinen for choosing Travail, Transformation, and Flow, and This Brings Us To, Vol. 1 as his number one and two picks. Click here to check out the ongoing conversation.

Finally, a special thanks to Seth Colter Walls for citing Travail, Transformation, and Flow in his Newsweek article, Jazz Is Dead. Long Live Jazz.

posted December 14, 2009 by Intern

Pi Recordings is proud to announce our presence in Downbeat Magazine’s 74th Annual Readers Poll.

Some highlights from the poll:

• Rudresh Mahanthappa was voted into the Alto Saxophone category and was also acknowledged for his release Kinsman for Album of the Year.

• Multi-Instrumentalist Roscoe Mitchell was voted in this year’s poll for the Soprano Saxophone category.

Last, but not least:

• Pi Recordings was voted into the Record Label of the Year category!

Thank you to all the Downbeat readers who voted, and thank you to all of our devoted Pi fans who let their voices be heard!

posted November 17, 2009 by Intern

The praise is streaming in for Henry Threadgill Zooid’s This Brings Us To, Volume 1. It’s awfully gratifying to see so much renewed attention being paid to “one of the most important living composers in and around the jazz idiom,” as Nate Chinen said of Threadgill in The New York Times. If you’ve been like us, waiting with bated breath for a new release from Henry, your time has come. Along with the release, there has been a flood of great feature articles and interviews that reveal much about the person behind so much of the finest, most original music of the last 40 years. We can all take inspiration from a man who has consistently refused to rest on his laurels, who’s not afraid to break down what he already knows, to keep studying and learning, and to create music that is truly new and challenging. If you are a fan of Threadgill’s, or if you are just interested in the thoughts of a great musical genius, you owe it to yourself to read or listen to each of these:

Fine feature article by Nate Chinen in The New York Times:
Master of the Mutable, in an Idiom All His Own

If that’s not enough, here is a more thorough analysis by Chinen in his excellent blog of Threadgill’s musical system for Zooid with help from Henry and the band’s guitarist Liberty Ellman: Regarding Henry

You need to pick up the November issue of The Wire for a great article by Hank Shteamer on Henry. But if that only served to whet your appetite, you owe it to yourself to read this full and unedited transcript of the interview.

A leisurely chat with Henry by Josh Jackson for WBGO’s The Checkout.

Howard Mandel’s honest and heartfelt reflection on how he approaches Henry’s new music: Henry Threadgill refuses to supply sweet, simple tunes

Enjoy!

posted November 10, 2009 by Yulun

Henry Threadgill’s This Brings Us To hits stores October 27th, 2009. It has been receiving excellent press with much more to come.

“Ths Brings Us To, Volume I” is a deep and enigmatic album, serene and funky, radiant with purpose.” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times

A disciplined kind of free jazz in which sophisticated, often meticulous compositional forms and strategies merge with an exploratory approach to improvisation and a post-everything inclusiveness.
– Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press (Four Stars)

This Brings Us To lunges at the listener with enigmatic twists and Threadgil’s unmistakable wailing alto sound.
– Bret Saunders, Denver Post

The groups sound is thrillingly thorney, Threadgill’s alto saxophone and flute tones brusk and rough at key moments, rich and velvety at others.
- Marc Medwin, Dusted Magazine

Effortlessly weaving solos into an ever-shifting pulse of brass and rhythm, the tunes offer immediate and visceral pleasures.
– Destination Out

This Brings Us To, Volume 1 is a spectacular return from an important jazz composer.
–Troy Collins, All About Jazz

posted October 26, 2009 by Intern