''In for a Penny, In for a Pound'' is an album composed by

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) 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 h ...

for his jazz quintet Zooid, featuring Jose Davila, Liberty Ellman, Christopher Hoffman, and Elliot Humberto Kavee. It was released by

Pi Recordings Pi Recordings is a jazz record label founded by Seth Rosner in 2001. He was soon joined as partner by Yulun Wang. Pi specializes in avant-garde jazz. Its first two albums were by Henry Threadgill. Pi's roster includes Amir ElSaffar, Anthony Braxt ...

and was awarded the 2016

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

Recording and music

''In for a Penny, In for a Pound'' was composed by

and recorded by his band, Zooid. The album, which is a two-disc suite, is composed of six tracks. Threadgill composed a concerto-like piece for each of his band members. However, the album includes improvisation. Patrick Jarenwattananon of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

describes the style of performance as "contrapuntal improvisation within a specific intervallic framework". Threadgill describes the album using the term "epic". Jose Davila plays trombone and tuba and is joined on the album by guitarist Liberty Ellman, cellist Christopher Hoffman and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee. Davila is featured on "Tresepic", Kavee is featured on "Ceroepic", Hoffman is featured on "Dosepic", and Ellman is featured on "Unoepic". Threadgill performs alto saxophone, flute and bass flute within each piece.

Release and reception

The album was released by Pi Recordings on May 26, 2015. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' critic Larry Blumenfeld describes the opening piece as "an old song joined in progress". Nate Chinen of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described the album as brilliant.

John Fordham John Fordham (died 1425) was Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Ely. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of Prince Richard from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named Lord Privy Seal in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381 ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the work as "welcomingly warm and melodious" despite the "sinewy slipperiness" of the rhythms and tunes. In his review for ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' Peter Margasak states, "there are so many fast-moving details and epiphanies at work here that it takes some rigor to hear how it all fits together, even if isolated phrases and sallies are rich in delight."Margasak, Peter (September 2015) "Henry Threadgill Zooid – In for a Penny, In for a Pound". ''Down Beat''. p. 56.

Awards

The album is regarded as the third by a jazz composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music (following

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

's ''

Blood on the Fields ''Blood on the Fields'' is a two-and-a-half-hour jazz oratorio by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and treats the history of slavery and its aftermath in the United States of America. The oratorio tells the story of two slav ...

'' in 1997 and Ornette Coleman's '' Sound Grammar'' in 2007).

Track listing

All compositions by Henry Threadgill. # "In for a Penny, In for a Pound (opening)" – 4:35 # "Ceroepic (for drums and percussion)" – 19:35 # "Dosepic (for cello)" – 16:00 # "Off the Prompt Box (exordium)" – 3:35 # "Tresepic (for trombone and tuba)" – 17:25 # "Unoepic (for guitar)" – 17:56

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.

Musicians

* Jose Davila – trombone, tuba * Liberty Ellman – guitar * Christopher Hoffman – cello, violin * Elliot Humberto Kavee – drums, percussion * Henry Threadgill – flute, bass flute, alto saxophone

Production

* Jules Allen – cover photo * Liberty Ellman – photography, producer * Steve Fallone – mastering * Simon Grendene – design * Michael Marciano – engineering * John Rogers – photography * Seth Rosner – executive producer * Yulun Wang – executive producer

Notes

{{PulitzerPrize Music 2011–2020 2015 compositions Henry Threadgill albums Pi Recordings albums Pulitzer Prize for Music-winning works