Jazz Articles about Wadada Leo Smith

About Wadada Leo Smith

Album Review

A first time meeting in the studio pitches avant-garde trumpet master Wadada Leo Smith against a crew of improvisers who cover diverse bases. All three of Smith's collaborators work together in Slobber Pup, what you might term a thinking man's noise band, as well as overlapping in a range of other outfits including Metallic Taste of Blood and Spanish Donkey. Best known in jazz circles will be Joe Morris, here on double bass, and keyboardist Jamie Saft who features in ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith/ Hardedge: The Nile

Read "The Nile" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 5, 2015

Avant-garde trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith has crafted epic sets, like the four disc Ten Freedom Summers (Cunieform Records, 2012), inspired by the Civil Rights Movement. And then there are the near-epics: 2014's The Great Lakes Suite (TUM Records, 2014), a two disc celebration of North America's great waterway. And sometimes he offers up, in contrast, fairly modest records, like Organic Resonance, a live one disc duet set with reed man Anthony Braxton. And now we have a seemingly modest, but ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites

Read "The Great Lakes Suites" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
January 27, 2015

The intrepid composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's creative energy continues unabated after a career spanning over four decades. His artistry has crystalized and matured without losing its progressive edge and The Great Lakes Suites is the fruit of this sophisticated ingenuity. For these six imaginative pieces, inspired by the bodies of water of the title, Smith has brought together three of the most original improvisers in a perfect and sublime balance of bold spontaneity and intuitive discipline. ...

Year in Review

Robert Bush Best of 2014

by Robert Bush
January 11, 2015

2014 proved a banner year for jazz recordings. Still, two of my favorite discs this year came in the form of previously unreleased material--the Jarrett Trio and Coltrane Quintet cannot be overlooked, in my opinion. Wadada Leo Smith The Great Lakes Suites (Tum Records) Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian Hamburg '72 (ECM) John Coltrane Offering Live at Temple University ...

Live Review

Jazztopad 2014, Three World Premieres

by Ian Patterson
November 24, 2014

Jazztopad Wroclaw, Poland November 13-15, 2014 Jazztopad enters its second decade with confident stride. The festival has come a long way in the first ten years, evolving, experimenting and growing as any good festival should. In 2014, Jazztopad stands as an internationally renowned festival with a clearly defined ethos, one that combines a strong respect for the traditions and roots of the music with a progressive vision that provides a platform for the contemporary and innovative. ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites

Read "The Great Lakes Suites" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
October 31, 2014

Trumpet and composer Wadada Leo Smith remains in one of the most fertile phases of his long and storied career. His prodigious output now enjoys the outlets it needs, courtesy of the Finnish TUM imprint and the US-based Cuneiform Records. And other recordings appear on a variety of independent labels. At least in part that is likely due to the prestige of the Pulitzer Prize recognition for his momentous Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012) extravaganza. For this latest extended work ...

Album Review

Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites

Read "The Great Lakes Suites" reviewed by Robert Bush

by Robert Bush
September 6, 2014

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is on something of a recording roll lately, with The Great Lakes Suites coming hot on the heels of 2013's Occupy The World, and 2012's Ten Freedom Summers on the TUM and Cuneiform labels, respectively. To these ears, The Great Lakes Suites is the prize among prizes. Drum icon Jack Dejohnette is back with Smith, and multi-instrumentalist Henry Threadgill joins long-time bass associate John Lindberg for a thrilling program of extended compositions ...