Up Popped the Two Lips
ASIN: B00005RTRX
Editorial Reviews
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Veteran alto saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill enters fresh territory with Up Popped the Two Lips. It's the first album by his intriguing, all-acoustic Zooid sextet. Along with a simultaneously issued new effort by another band of his, Make a Move, it also marks his first association with a small independent label in many a moon. A longtime proponent of world sounds, Threadgill plays international matchmaker here in drafting Moroccan oud player Tarik Benbrahim into a string section that includes acoustic guitarist Liberty Ellman and cellist Dana Leong. By turns jaunty and mysterious, funky and reflective, the music is characteristically Theadgillian with its contrasts between light and dark, juxtaposition of flighty carnival melodies and assertive zigzag rhythms, tricky time signatures and fulsome unison lines. And in Jose Davila, Threadgill has another excellent tuba player to man an instrument of great importance to his patented sound. But with Benbrahim and Ellman lightening the textures and drummer Dafnis Prieto nimbly threading through them--and doing his share of slashing as well--this may be Threadgill's springiest unit. Up Popped the Two Lips is certainly Threadgill's most consistently strong effort since 1993's Too Much Sugar for a Dime. --Lloyd Sachs
Up Popped the Two Lips,Henry Threadgill's Zooid,Pi Recordings,Avant-Garde Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Modern Creative,Pop
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Up Popped the Two Lips
Henry Threadgill's Zooid Manufacturer: Pi Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Avant Garde & Free Jazz
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ASIN: B00005RTRX Release Date: 2001-11-13 |
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Amazon.com
Veteran alto saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill enters fresh territory with Up Popped the Two Lips. It's the first album by his intriguing, all-acoustic Zooid sextet. Along with a simultaneously issued new effort by another band of his, Make a Move, it also marks his first association with a small independent label in many a moon. A longtime proponent of world sounds, Threadgill plays international matchmaker here in drafting Moroccan oud player Tarik Benbrahim into a string section that includes acoustic guitarist Liberty Ellman and cellist Dana Leong. By turns jaunty and mysterious, funky and reflective, the music is characteristically Theadgillian with its contrasts between light and dark, juxtaposition of flighty carnival melodies and assertive zigzag rhythms, tricky time signatures and fulsome unison lines. And in Jose Davila, Threadgill has another excellent tuba player to man an instrument of great importance to his patented sound. But with Benbrahim and Ellman lightening the textures and drummer Dafnis Prieto nimbly threading through them--and doing his share of slashing as well--this may be Threadgill's springiest unit. Up Popped the Two Lips is certainly Threadgill's most consistently strong effort since 1993's Too Much Sugar for a Dime. --Lloyd SachsCustomer Reviews:
Not the best Threadgill exc for the first cut.......2006-11-05
tight band.......2003-06-18
First great jazz album of the new millenium.......2002-05-09
This is the album where Henry Threadgill's years of laboring in the fields of musical weirdness finally come home to roost: Everything comes together in spectacular fashion. There's not a false note in the bunch. If you've got big enough ears, check it out. I guarentee you won't be disappointed.
Zooid, Threadgill's international string sextet.......2001-11-18
Zooid is a string sextet, with acoustic guitar, cello and oud. Yes, oud! Must be a first for jazz. Tarik Benbrahim, the oud player, is Moroccan, tuba player Jose Davila is Puerto Rican, and drummer Dafnis Prieto is Cuban! After the first several listens, I'm not quite as impressed by this record as I am by EMAB (see my review). The album closes strongly -- "Did You See That" features oud and flute, and "Do the Needful" is the most dynamic track, with an urgent alto solo, rollicking drums and tuba, and lovely strings for backdrop. Elsewhere UPTL falls prey to Threadgill's lugubrious tendency and loses momentum from time to time. Despite the excellent sound (with mixing by Bill Laswell), the three string instruments are sometimes indistinct, which must then be a problem with the composition, not the production. So if you are going to hear just one of the two new Threadgill, records, I have to recommend EMAB over "Up Popped the Two Lips." But why choose?
Henry Threadgill has been signed by major labels twice that I can recall, by Novus (a subsidiary of BMG) in the 80s -- "You Know the Number" was the first of 3 releases by his Sextet, and it's time to reissue them! -- and then by Sony in the 90s, which released 3 records by his Very Very Circus and Make a Move in 1995 and 1997. Otherwise, he has recorded for a number of independent labels, including Black Saint/Soul Note, so returning to an independent label is nothing new. Threadgill has never compromised his vision, and while I'm sure he wouldn't have minded making more money over the years, I'm glad he hasn't quit!
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Up Popped the Two Lips
Henry Threadgill Manufacturer: Disk Union ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Avant Garde & Free Jazz
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ASIN: B00005RL0L Release Date: 2001-11-21 |
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