Only Wynton and Ornette became Pulitzer prize winners for music during their lifetimes... until now, with the news overnight that avant reedist/flautist bandleader/composer Henry Threadgill has won the award, one of America’s greatest musical accolades, to join them.

Usually the prize judges select classical winners and certainly there is an art music pure avant compositional aspect to all of Threadgill’s deeply unconventional work yet it is completely steeped in improvisation and avant garde jazz. The Chicago composer, who is 72, won for last year’s In for a Penny, In for a Pound. Threadgill is influential on avant jazz musicians the world over. In Scotland for instance he is a big influence on drummer/bandleader Tom Bancroft. Threadgilll emerged via the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in the 1960s. I’ve only seen Threadgill play live once with his Zooid ensemble, a quite remarkable concert at the London Jazz Festival back in 2011.

Vintage Threadgill from the 1970s, above

The organisers refer to Threadgill’s winning compositions released by the Pi label as a “highly original work in which notated music and improvisation mesh in a sonic tapestry that seems the very expression of modern American life.” SG

Follow the link to all the Pulitzer winners this year. Threadgill is interviewed by The Guardian on his achievement.