There are a lot of tribute bands in jazz, so what’s so special about Air Legacy, who is playing at Frederick YMCA Arts this Saturday? The short answer is Air, a once-in-a-generation trio.
Formed in the early 1970s to provide music written by Scott Joplin for a theater production in Chicago, Air – drummer Steve McCall, double bassist Fred Hopkins, and saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill – created an enduring body of work, recording nine critically acclaimed albums between 1975 and 1982, and performing at major festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. All three were brilliant improvisers; however, the key to Air’s success was Threadgill’s compositions. Surprised-filled and acerbically swinging, Threadgill’s work with Air paved the way to his winning the 2017 Pulitzer Prize and becoming one of the most celebrated American composers of the 21st Century. Supplemented by pieces penned by Hopkins and McCall and the occasional revamping of tunes by Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton, Air’s performances were legendary, leave-it-all-on-the bandstand affairs.
Here’s a few links to a cross section of their albums to give you a sense of their wide range of materials:
Air Song (1975 album)
Air Mail (1981 album)
Air Lore (1979 album)
Read an excerpt from Threadgill’s autobiography, Slip Easily into Another World, where he discusses the formation of Air.
Pheeroan akLaff, Marty Ehrlich, and Hillard Greene possess the skill sets and insights to give the music of Air new life. When McCall left the group in the early ‘80s, akLaff began performing with Threadgill and Hopkins as New Air. Greene’s powerful sound and visceral propulsion is in a league with Hopkins and few others. Ehrlich’s wide expressive range on saxophones and flutes and scholarly insights on Threadgill’s music makes him one of a very small number of musicians who could conceivably take on Threadgill’s mantle.
Earlier this year, Brooklyn’s Roulette Intermedium presented Be Ever Out, a two-night tribute to Threadgill, featuring new iterations of his groundbreaking ensembles, including Very Very Circus, Make A Move, and the seven-person Sextett. Air Legacy was the first ensemble to play.
Endorsements are commonplace, but not from Henry Threadgill.
“Through the inheritance whereby the intangibility of music is passed to another runner. In this moment the very rare Air Legacy Trio.” – Henry Threadgill
Air Legacy performs at Frederick YMCA Arts on Saturday. Doors at 7:30; concert at 8.
Frederick YMCA Arts is located at 115 East Church Street in Frederick, Maryland. Wheelchair accessibility is through the back of the building. Tickets are $30 cash at the door. Credit card purchases available through Brown Paper Tickets.
For more information, email: admin@pointofdeparture.org.
Photo Credit: Alan Nahigian, Billie Wheeler