Henry Threadgill - clad in a long, caftan-style thin-red striped shirt which hangs down to his knees - brings his flute and alto sax to stage center at the Palace of San Francisco’s Fine Arts. To his rear, drummer Elliott Humberto Kavee sits in front of his drumkit. Acoustic guitarist Liberty Ellman, on acoustic guitar, is to Kavee’s right. Jose Davila, seated to Threadgill’s left with tuba in hand, is barely visible behind his music stand. Cellist Rubin Kodhell and cello/trombonist Dana

I first saw Keith Jarrett perform with a quartet at the Jazz Workshop in Boston in the early 1970s. At that time, having been introduced a few years back to jazz through Bitches Brew, I was interested in seeing performers who had played with Miles, and Keith filled that bill. I remember, in particular, his playing a small wooden xylophone. Years later, living in Kyoto, Japan, I borrowed several of the ECM solo records from Jonah, a theater student and fellow English teacher. I remember being