''Air Time'' is an album by the improvisational collective

Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

, released in 1978. Henry Threadgill,

Steve McCall Stephen Harold McCall (born 15 October 1960) is an English retired footballer who now works as a scout for Carlisle United. A defensive midfielder during his playing days, McCall built a reputation as a cultured midfield player, with immacul ...

, and Fred Hopkins perform three of Threadgill's compositions and one each by Hopkins and McCall.Backstrom, L. & Lopez, R
Henry Threadgill discography
accessed February 10, 2010

Reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled b ...

'' selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection, stating: "Listening in detail to its five tracks ...helps illuminate much of the group's language, its vivid exploitation of splintered tempi, deliberately awkward and raucous phrasing, devices from other musical traditions ...and most particularly the use of percussion as another voiced and pitched instrument". In his

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review,

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

comments: "The trio Air aimed to have close interplay between three musical equals. This Nessa release (their first recording for an American label) has plenty of explorative solos".Yanow, S. AllMusic Reviewaccessed February 10, 2010. ''

The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' said: "''Air Time'' is probably the best single album indication of the band's range".

Track listing

''All compositions by Henry Threadgill except as indicated'' # "I'll Be Right Here Waiting..." (Steve McCall) – 2:29 # "No. 2" – 11:46 # "G.v.E." (Fred Hopkins) – 6:59 # "Subtraction" – 13:20 # "Keep Right on Playing Thru the Mirror Over the Water" – 9:04 * Recorded at Streeterville Studios, Chicago, IL on November 17 (tracks 2 & 3) & November 18 (tracks 1, 4 & 5), 1977

Personnel

* Henry Threadgill –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

bass flute The bass flute is a member of the flute family pitched one octave below the concert flute. The tubing length is twice as long at , which requires a J-shaped head joint to bring the embouchure hole within reach of the player. Despite its name ...

, hubkaphone * Fred Hopkins –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

References

{{Authority control 1978 albums Air (free jazz trio) albums Nessa Records albums