Listen Ship (2025)

"As in other recent works, Henry Threadgill appears here solely as composer and conductor. "Listen Ship" unfolds as a kind of suite, with 16 episodes of varying lengths, marked by the letters "A" to "R." These range from the 40 seconds of "Q" to the eight minutes of "R." Repeated listens reveal that the durations of the pieces serve the unfolding of a meticulously crafted narrative architecture. The brief, elegiac, and sparse opening episode, entrusted to the pianos, is followed by just over two minutes of the guitar ensemble, weaving a dancing, circular figure: a dense thread that sets the stage for many subsequent episodes, where distinguishing individual voices within the thick texture is futile. Even less feasible is separating written parts from improvised ones: everything flows, generating form and meaning. Like a fine tapestry, it's not the individual thread but the overall design that emerges." (All About Jazz, 5 uit 5 sterren) De stukken worden gespeeld door 9 musici, waaronder gitarist Bill Frisell.