Up Popped the Two Lips; Everybody's Mouth's a Book

The saxist-flutist-composer, whose unique jazz-cum-swampy chamber music goes back 20-plus years, is a great American innovator and his return is an event. He reemerges with two projects: Make a Move is mostly plugged in, while Zooid is proudly acoustic, including tuba and oud in the mix. Both albums buzz with Threadgill’s restless harmonic language — somehow echoing Stravinsky, Thelonious Monk, hints of various world traditions, and his own private poetry. Within these layered, angular melodies and squirrelly chord patterns are beguiling puzzles, music to soothe and grip the mind. Two Lips: A- Book: A