Jazz Articles about Lamar Smith

About Lamar Smith

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Constellations and Hemispheres

Read "Constellations and Hemispheres" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 18, 2026

The listener is easily startled by Wadada Leo Smith. The man has an aura about him that emanates from some other place, some other time, when the rule of law was set in stone. A time not too long ago when collective aspiration held us all enthralled. And the man who carried that stone is none other than the trumpeter himself. Smith's presence also has a mythical essence that, in and of itself, is hardly breaking news. But ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
March 31, 2023

Eighty-one year old trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith comes out flaring like Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, as Fire Illuminations jumps the funk rock from the break of the muscular conflagration “Ntozake." And the grunge jazz clips along as guitarists Nels Cline, Brandon Ross, and Lamar Smith vie, bite, sting, and quarrel over an insistent bass drum power-groove courtesy of bassists Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs, percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer Pheeroan aKlaff, and the deep space electronics of Hardedge.

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations

Read "Fire Illuminations" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 12, 2023

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith fronts lots of different bands and puts out lots of albums. After a busy period when he released five boxed sets, totaling 27 CDs, here he debuts his new all-star ensemble Orange Wave Electric, with the download-only offering, Fire Illuminations. As the band name implies, the sound is electric, featuring three electric guitarists, two electric bassists and an electronicist, joining the leader's horn, percussionist Mauro Refosco and drummer Pheeroan aKLaff. For comparison's sake--and using ...