Easily Slip into Another World

A Life in Music

By: Henry Threadgill, Brent Hayes Edwards

Narrated by: Ron Butler

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • An autobiography of one of the towering figures of contemporary American music and a powerful meditation on history, race, capitalism, and art.

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker

Henry Threadgill has had a singular life in music. At 79, the saxophonist, flautist, and celebrated composer is one of three jazz artists (along with Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis) to have won a Pulitzer Prize. In Easily Slip into Another World, Threadgill recalls his childhood and upbringing in Chicago, his family life and education, and his brilliant career in music.

Here are riveting recollections of the music scene in Chicago in the early 1960s, when Threadgill developed his craft among friends and schoolmates who would go on to form the core of the highly influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM); the year and a half he spent touring with an evangelical preacher in the mid-1960s; his military service in Vietnam—a riveting tale in itself, but also representative of an under-recognized aspect of jazz history, given the number of musicians in Threadgill’s generation who served in the armed forces.

We appreciate his genius as he travels to the Netherlands, Venezuela, Trinidad, Sicily, and Goa enriching his art; immerses himself in the volatile downtown scene in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s; collaborates with choreographers, writers, and theater directors as well as an astonishing range of musicians, from AACM stalwarts (Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, and Leroy Jenkins), to Chicago bluesmen, downtown luminaries, and world music innovators; shares his impressions of the recording industry his perspectives on music education and the history of Black music in the United States; and, of course, accounts for his work with the various ensembles he has directed over the past five decades.

©2023 Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Vividly told, alternately uproarious and devastating, Easily Slip into Another World serves up astonishing tales of Threadgill's life in Chicago, Vietnam, New York, and on the road, punctuated by deep revelations about the Black experience, American empire, an artist's life, and the entire history of music. Threadgill and Edwards have crafted an invaluable literary experience: a real-life Bildungsroman, plainspoken, erudite, and searingly honest. This book will be savored and cherished for generations.”—Vijay Iyer, Composer and Pianist; Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts, Harvard University

“The personal, the political, the musical, the spiritual: all merge in this brilliant, beguiling memoir by one of the major musical minds of our time. Easily Slip into Another World not only documents a radically inventive individual talent but also celebrates a singularly vital collaborative community—that of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. It shows the indivisibility of what comes from within and what comes from without: making music as a way of being in the world.”—Alex Ross, music critic, The New Yorker, and author of The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

“Easily Slip into Another World is the vibrant autobiography of Henry Threadgill, a fearless explorer whose music and performance transcends categories and genres. His encompassing vision and adventurous spirit of inquiry have influenced generations of composers and musicians. This book is an affirmation of the power of creativity to change our world and discover new ones.”–Meredith Monk, Composer, Singer, Director/Choreographer

Incredibly Honest

Threadgill provides a honest and vivid look at his life which gives us such much to consider and wonder about what we know about our larger history. I’m thinking about his days in Vietnam, in particular.

This is a terrific book!

This is a marvelous exposition of the life of the jazz genius, Henry Threadgill. Brent Edwards and Threadgill have written a brilliant book, not only telling Threadgill’s personal story, but explaining how he has become so unique and accomplished as a musician. Utterly fascinating and absorbing.

fantastic!

just a beautiful book. about music. about life. about dedication and discipline. loved reading it.

Eloquent and too long

Henry Threadgill is remarkably articulate about music and about life in general. But he seems to have forgotten absolutely nothing in his lifetime. The book goes on and on describing what and when but rarely going deeply into why. It’s an outstanding book, but it grows tiresome.

Fascinating

For who followed AIR with passion. Now I can go hear some more of his profound ensembles. Many thanks Henry.

A little short on substance

There are a few goodies. Particularly enjoyed the recollection of Sun Ra rehearsals and HT’s military music disaster. But was hoping to learn more about the other musicians HT ran with in both, Chicago and NYC. He must have more than a couple of great anecdotes to share with the reader. Feels like HT is on a mission to convince the world he’s a legitimate musician here. At one point in the book he suggests Ellington would have invited HT to co-compose and co-arrange music for the Ellington’s big band if HT could have summoned the courage to audition for Duke when he had the opportunity. This free-jazz rebel seeking approval from the old master strikes me as a reiteration of the plot to ‘East of Eden’. I understand Duke was an elegant gentleman who happily worked with a wide variety of musicians. Nevertheless, difficult to imagine the Ellington/Threadgill orchestra. The book is worth reading.