Pyeng Threadgill

Last updated
Pyeng Threadgill
Born (1977-11-14) November 14, 1977 (age 46)
New York City, United States
Genres Blues, soul blues, jazz
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2000s–present

Pyeng Dubra Threadgill (born November 14, 1977) [1] is an American blues, jazz and soul blues singer, songwriter and record producer. [2] Her father is the bandleader and composer, Henry Threadgill, and her mother is Christina Jones, a dancer and choreographer. Threadgill has released three albums, beginning in 2004 with Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert Johnson.

Contents

Life and career

Threadgill was born in the Lower East Side of New York City, United States, to parents Henry Threadgill and Christina Jones, a founding member of the dance group Urban Bush Women. [2] She attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music studying classical music and graduating with a BA in Music. [3] [4] Keen on a career as a singer, she was cast in her teenage years in avant-garde dance and theater. Threadgill stated, "I remember one of my close friends and I used to make a game of seeing who could write a song fastest." [5] She was awarded the Mellon Fellowship to study music in Brazil. [4]

In 2004, Threadgill obtained her first recording contract and released her debut album, Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert Johnson, via the independent record label, Random Chance Records. [5] The album contained covers of 11 Robert Johnson songs, all set in different musical genres. [2] Threadgill stated at the time that "I wanted each song to be different; otherwise what would be the point?" [6] A year later, her second album Of The Air, included a cover of the Cure's "Close to Me". [7] She followed the release with a tour of Europe. [5] She performed regularly at various New York venues before relocating to Berkeley, California. [7]

Threadgill has headlined the Fillmore Jazz Festival's Ellis Street stage, [8] and appeared at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Detroit Institute of The Arts, and the Sun Side Jazz Club in Paris, France. In 2006, Threadgill was a featured player in a documentary film starring Youssou N'Dour, entitled Retour à Gorée and directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud. [3]

After several years of performing and raising her daughter, Threadgill wrote and developed a work based on short stories by authors including Jamaica Kincaid and Bruno Schulz. The song cycle, entitled Portholes to a Love & Other Short Stories, led to her being granted a 2008 Fellowship in music composition through the New York Foundation for the Arts. [5] It became the basis of her third album, self-released in 2009. [3] In 2010, Threadgill performed at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival.

Since then, Threadgill has explored other musical-based interests including work with the pianist Marc Cary, as well as theater projects. [5]

Discography

Albums

YearTitleRecord label
2004Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert JohnsonRandom Chance Records
2005Of The AirRandom Chance Records
2009Portholes to a Love & Other Short StoriesStray Dog Music

[9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Williams</span> American singer, songwriter and musician (born 1958)

Victoria Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1990s, Williams was the catalyst for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etta James</span> American singer (1938–2012)

Jamesetta Hawkins, known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as "The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album Seven Year Itch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Mama Thornton</span> American blues singer (1926–1984)

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Threadgill</span> American composer, saxophonist and flautist

Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He has performed and recorded with several ensembles: Air, Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill Sextett, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcia Ball</span> Musical artist

Marcia Ball is an American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Humes</span> American singer (1913–1981)

Helen Humes was an American singer. Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classic popular song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassandra Wilson</span> American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer

Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating blues, country, and folk music into her work. She has won numerous awards, including two Grammys, and was named "America's Best Singer" by Time magazine in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sippie Wallace</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1898–1986)

Sippie Wallace was an American blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her early career in tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by her or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas. Her accompanists included Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, and Clarence Williams. Among the top female blues vocalists of her era, Wallace ranked with Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, and Bessie Smith.

Victoria Regina Spivey, sometimes known as Queen Victoria, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and record company founder. During a recording career that spanned 40 years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Luis Russell, Lonnie Johnson, and Bob Dylan. She also performed in vaudeville and clubs, sometimes with her sister Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey, also known as the Za Zu Girl. Among her compositions are "Black Snake Blues" (1926), "Dope Head Blues" (1927), and "Organ Grinder Blues" (1928). In 1961, she co-founded Spivey Records with one of her husbands, Len Kunstadt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irma Thomas</span> American soul, rhythm and blues, and gospel singer

Irma Thomas is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Nelson (singer)</span> American singer

Tracy Nelson is an American country and blues singer. She has been involved in the recording of over 20 albums in her recording career, which started in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaGaylia Frazier</span> American-born Swedish singer

LaGaylia Frazier is an American-born Swedish singer who specializes in Soul and jazz.

"Corrine, Corrina" is a 12-bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by Bo Carter. However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Armenter "Bo Carter" Chatmon and his publishers, Mitchell Parish and J. Mayo Williams. The song is familiar for its opening verse:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizz Wright</span> American jazz and gospel singer

Elizabeth LaCharla Wright professionally known as Lizz Wright, is an American jazz and gospel singer.

Barbara Ann "Bobbi" Humphrey is an American jazz flautist and singer. She has recorded twelve albums over the course of her career, mostly playing jazz fusion, funk, and soul-jazz. In 1971, she was the first female instrumentalist signed by Blue Note and in 1994, she founded the jazz label Paradise Sounds Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Armstrong (musician)</span> American string band and country blues musician

Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong was an American string band and country blues musician, who played fiddle, mandolin, and guitar and sang. He was also a notable visual artist and raconteur.

Lori Goldston is an American cellist and composer. Accomplished in a wide variety of styles, including classical, world music, rock and free improvisation, she came to prominence as the touring cellist for Nirvana from 1993–1994 and appears on their live album MTV Unplugged in New York. She was a member of Earth, the Black Cat Orchestra, and Spectratone International, and also performs solo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhiannon Giddens</span> American musician (born 1977)

Rhiannon Giddens is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music. She is a founding member of the country, blues, and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, where she was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Mvula</span> British singer

Laura Mvula is a British singer. A native of Birmingham, England, Mvula has gained experience as a young member or leader of a cappella, jazz/neo-soul and gospel groups and choirs. She was classically trained. In 2012, she signed with RCA Records and released an extended play, She, to critical acclaim.

Sandra L. Hall is an American blues and soul blues singer and songwriter. She has been billed as Atlanta's "Empress of the Blues" Hall is an Honorary Member of the Atlanta Blues Society. To date she has released five albums, including three on Ichiban Records.

References

  1. Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues – A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 263. ISBN   978-0313344237.
  2. 1 2 3 Thom Jurek. "Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert Johnson – Pyeng Threadgill | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  3. 1 2 3 "Pyeng Threadgill at the Maurice Montoya Music Agency". Mmmusicagency.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  4. 1 2 "Pyeng Threadgill Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "November 22 / Pyeng Threadgill – Pillsbury House Theatre". Pillsburyhouseandtheatre.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  6. John Murph. "Pyeng Threadgill". Jazztimes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  7. 1 2 "Pyeng Threadgill's Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos". Last.fm. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  8. Neva Chonin (2006-07-04). "REVIEW / Singer Pyeng Threadgill bridges classic, contemporary jazz with an easy subtlety". SFGate . Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  9. "Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert Johnson – Pyeng Threadgill | Releases". AllMusic . Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  10. "Pyeng Threadgill – Of The Air (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.