Pyeng Threadgill
Pyeng Threadgill | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 14, 1977 New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Blues, soul blues, jazz |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2000s–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.
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Threadgill was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan 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]
Career
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]Albums
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Sweet Home: Pyeng Threadgill Sings Robert Johnson | Random Chance Records |
| 2005 | Of The Air | Random Chance Records |
| 2009 | Portholes to a Love & Other Short Stories | Stray Dog Music |
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- 1977 births
- Living people
- African-American women singer-songwriters
- American women singer-songwriters
- American women jazz singers
- American jazz singers
- 20th-century African-American women singers
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American singers
- American blues singers
- American soul singers
- Soul-blues musicians
- Electric blues musicians
- Record producers from New York (state)
- Singers from New York City
- Jazz musicians from New York (state)
- 21st-century American singer-songwriters
- 21st-century American women singers
- American women record producers
- 21st-century American women composers
- 21st-century African-American women singers
- Singer-songwriters from New York (state)