All about this artist
Biography:
Jazz conglomeration comprising Henry Threadgill (born 15 February 1944, Chicago, Illinois, USA; reeds), Fred Hopkins (b. 11 October 1947, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 7 January 1999, Chicago, Illinois, USA; bass), Steve McCall (b. 30 September 1933, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d.
24 May 1989; drums). Air, originally called Reflection, was formed in Chicago in 1971 when AACM colleagues Threadgill, Hopkins and McCall came together to play for a stage show about Scott Joplin. Although the trio did later record a set of Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton tunes (Air Lore), they are better known for the music that Threadgill wrote for them when they began to tour in 1975.
He brought a new angle to jazz ensemble playing by composing "from the bass . . . from the drums": "It changes the whole frame of reference in terms of what accompaniment is all about, you know. It kind of kills accompaniment and puts everything on an equal footing, and that's what I'm after.
" Threadgill's pieces were steeped in the AACM's structural modernisms: ambitious, democratic, unresolved; filled with space, strength (of mind, feeling, technique) and a rigorous sense of inquiry; spiced with Threadgill's particular sense of the enigmatic; and brought to life by the trio's extraordinary instrumental virtuosity.
In the mid-70s Air moved to New York and in 1982, when McCall left (to be replaced by Pheeroan Ak Laff, who was in turn replaced by Andrew Cyrille in 1985), they changed their name to New Air. The group's final recording, Air Show No 1, which featured singer Cassandra Wilson, was released in 1986.
In its earlier incarnation, Air was one of the crucial new jazz groups of the 70s and - together with the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the different groups led by Muhal Richard Abrams and Anthony Braxton - standard-bearers for the AACM's claim to have inspired the most original and exciting jazz music of the post-John Coltrane era.
