Kahil El’Zabar is a composer, arranger, and performer who has led the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble for fifty years, a major feat. The band has changed members and configurations often over the decades—it is currently a trio, with guests dropping in and out—but throughout its history it has been animated and driven forward by a singular vision, an integration of Black vernacular music and African-leaning instrumentation, anchored by its leader’s distinctive and passionate approach to percussion.
It is absolutely a measure of his importance and achievement as a musician that a major publisher has brought out this book, Henry Threadgill’s autobiography (written with Brent Hayes Edwards in a fluid and engrossing style close to that of an oral history). Jazz in general is not a subject the big publishers are interested in, much less for someone like Threadgill who has been a leader in the avant-garde for decades.
The brothers are back! The boys from Chicago, who are all sons of jazz legend Phil Cohran are returning to the Pavilion this week to play another rousing show.