Amid Winter Jazzfest's Glorious Sprawl, Threadgill Salutes Morris

Henry Threadgill (left) and Butch Morris at Manhattan's Time Cafe in 1995. Photo by Richard Sandler.

The Winter Jazzfest, now in its tenth year, has grown into a signature event of New York’s jazz scene. Like the environment it reflects, relationships hold its keys to discovery and understanding. Saturday night at Judson Church in Greenwich Village, within a sprawling nine-venue marathon featuring scores of bands, composer Henry Threadgill had assembled a seven-piece group, Ensemble Double-Up, to premiere a piece, “Old Locks and Irregular Verbs,” in remembrance of his friend, composer and conductor Butch Morris, who died in January 2013. My account is here.


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