Cut You Where You Was (Vinyl) – Henry Threadgill Feat. Liberty Ellman & Christophe

Cut You Where You Was marks the return of saxophonist, flutist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill’s flagship band Zooid. It’s their first release since 2021’s Poof, which Downbeat asserted “visits strange territories, upsets our sense of scale and value but delivers whole new musical worlds.” It also marks the 25th anniversary of their first album Up Popped the Two Lips, the inaugural release by Pi Recordings, which was first founded with the inspiration to document new releases from Threadgill. Their new album exhibits the continued growth of Zooid’s unique sound. Featuring original members Liberty Ellman on guitar, Jose Davila on trombone and tuba, Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums, and cellist Christopher Hoffman, who has been a member for over a decade and a half, the band exhibits a sense of ease with Threadgill’s knotty compositional sense, achieving their signature quality with less strict adherence to the distinctive interval-based compositional system that won Threadgill a Pulitzer Prize for his landmark work In for a Penny, In for a Pound. The album comprises a number of brief pieces that are inspired by Threadgill’s fascination with early recording technologies: Their short recording durations force each musician to make their statements quickly rather than through protracted development. This limitation helps open new possibilities for musical expression, making Cut You Where You Was another tour-de-force from one of the most important artists of last half-century.