Latest News

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, with more being added, will be on hand for the memorial. The following is a only the confirmed list:

Andrew Cyrille, Ahmed Abdullah, Billy Bang, Jerome Cooper, James Blood Ulmer, Dave Burrell, Henry Grimes, Jason Hwang, Ras Moshe, Hill Greene, Charles Waters, Andrew Barker, Adam Roberts, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Jr., Ramsey Ameen, Micheal Wimberley, Abdoulaye N’Diaye, Muhammad Ali, Kali. Z. Fasteau, Juma Sultan, Ted Daniel, Reggie Nicholson

Keep checking back here for an updated list of participants. We hope to have the participation of many more of the greats from Sirone’s illustrious career.

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

 

RIP Sirone September 28th, 1940 - October 21st, 2009. We thank you for the time we got to spend with you, your music, humor and outlook.

posted October 22, 2009 by Seth

 
Upcoming Events
February 10

Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd

Teatro Manzoni / Aperitivo in Concerto, Milano

February 11

Henry Threadill's Zooid

The Jazz Gallery, New York, NY

February 12

Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition

Duke University - Durham, North Carolina

February 12

Henry Threadgill's Zoid

The Jazz Gallery, New York, NY

February 17

Rudresh Mahanthappa + Mauger Trio

UC Irvine - Irvine, CA

February 18

Rudresh Mahanthappa + Mauger Trio

UC San Diego, San Diego, CA

February 20

Rudresh Mahanthappa + Mauger Trio

Seasons Performance Hall - Yakima, WA

February 25

Raw Materials

Jazzclub, Uster (CH)

February 26

Raw Materials

Stanzerei, Baden (CH)

February 27

Raw Materials

Kunsthaus,Glarus (CH)

February 28

Raw Materials

Dampfzentrale, Berne

March 2

Raw Materials

Vooruit, G(h)ent

March 3

Raw Materials

London

March 4

Raw Materials

Spielboden, Dornbirn

March 5

Raw Materials

Wroclaw, Poland

March 10

Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition

Hope College - Holland, MI

March 12

Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition

Kirkland Performing Arts Center - Kirkland, WA

March 13

Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition

SFJAZZ - San Francisco, CA

March 19

Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn

Princeton, New Jersey

March 20

Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn

Princeton, New Jersey

April 13

Vijay Iyer Trio

Stockholm, Sweden

April 14

Vijay Iyer Trio

Bergen

April 15

Vijay Iyer Trio

Cully Jazz Festival

April 16

Vijay Iyer Trio

Singen

April 17

Mark Ribot Trio

Cully, Switzerland

April 17

Vijay Iyer Trio

Stanser Musiktage

April 18

Amir ElSaffar and Hafez Modirzadeh Quartet
feat. Mark Dresser and Alex Cline

Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY

April 18

Mark Ribot Trio

Paris, France

April 19

Mark Ribot Trio

Salzburg, Austria

April 20

Vijay Iyer Trio

Darmstadt

April 20

Vijay Iyer Trio

Darmstadt

April 21

Mark Ribot Trio

Trondheim, Norway

April 22

Mark Ribot Trio

Oslo, Norway

April 23

Vijay Iyer Trio

Quimper Jazz Festival

April 23

Mark Ribot Trio

Poznan, Poland

April 24

Mark Ribot Trio

Innsbruck, Austria

April 25

Vijay Iyer Trio

Zurich

April 27

Mark Ribot Trio

Rome, Italy

April 28

Mark Ribot Trio

Torino, Italy

April 28

Vijay Iyer + Tirtha

The American Theatre - Hampton, Virginia