Jazz Articles about Wadada Leo Smith

Wadada Leo Smith - Gunter Baby Sommer: Wisdom in Time

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 26, 2007

Come la maggior parte dei dischi impro anche Wisdom in Time ha la sua (retro)storia, ossia un percorso, delle vicende e degli incontri tra i due protagonisti, Wadada Leo Smith e Gunter Baby Sommer, che sottendono la musica vera e propria. Già proprio quella che quando la si ascolta fa dimenticare tutto, ma proprio tutto, dando invece importanza e centralità solo ed esclusivamente al Presente, all’Attimo, all’Atto, come gesti unici e assoluti di quell’incredibile e inesauribile esperienza che è l’improvvisazione. ...

Wadada Leo Smith & Adam Rudolph: Compassion

by Florence Wetzel
November 5, 2006

Compassion, a beautiful duet recording by Wadada Leo Smith and Adam Rudolph, provides a welcome addition to jazz' long tradition of spiritual expression. Recorded live in 2002 at a concert in Venice, California, the disc features Smith on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Rudolph on handrumset, dusu'ngoni, sibsi, vocal, kalimbas, gongs, cymbals and percussion. The song titles give a sense of the musicians' intentions--for example, “Sun Ray Colors and Rainbow Images," “Fragrance of Light," and “Silver Drum Circle." ...

Wadada Leo Smith and Adam Rudolph: Compassion

by Rex Butters
August 25, 2006

Long-time occasional collaborators Wadada Leo Smith and Adam Rudolph perform improvised/composed duets from a 2002 performance live at Venice's Electric Lodge on Compassion, newly released on Rudolph's Meta Records. Both are masters of their mediums: Rudolph plays a variety of percussion instruments and at least one wind instrument to sonically shade, color, and texturize; Smith uses trumpet and flugelhorn in conventional and extended ways to complement him. With improvisers of this depth, the journey takes many unexpected turns, all rewarding. ...

Wadada Leo Smith: Lake Biwa and Snakish

by Kurt Gottschalk
May 28, 2006

Wadada Leo Smith Lake Biwa Tzadik 2004 Wadada Leo Smith Snakish Leo 2005 The only thing that's really predictable about trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is that, whatever he takes on, he'll pull it off. From the more traditional Golden Quartet to his duos with Anthony Braxton, to Rasta and Sufi inflections to the Miles ...

Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years: 1971-1979

by Jeff Stockton
December 12, 2005

In 1971, four years after Coltrane's death, the hole that was left in jazz was intimidating. Ayler, Sanders, Taylor, et al. had pushed free music as loud and as far out as they could, and once dissonance and tumult had made themselves at home, the next generation responded not with more noise, but with silence. Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith aligned himself with the AACM in Chicago and the sensibilities that produced Roscoe Mitchell's Sound, Anthony Braxton's solo For Alto, and ...

Wadada Leo Smith: Snakish

by Rex Butters
November 17, 2005

Of all the avant-garde players from his generation, Wadada Leo Smith easily ranks among the most insightful collaborators with electronic musicians. His willingness to include electrified lexicon in his musical language now yields Snakish, a surprising soundscape created with a band culled from the Cal/Arts faculty, including guitarist Miroslav Tadic and electrician Walter Quintus, as well as vocliast Katya Quintus and Mark Nauseef on percussion and electronics. The guitar, trumpet, and percussion juxtapose the electronic environments to create rainbows of ...

Wadada Leo Smith: Lake Biwa

by Rex Butters
August 10, 2005

Lake Biwa presents Wadada Leo Smith's Silver Orchestra in four pieces that showcase the composer's startling originality and lofty inspiration. Peopled by some of New York's finest, including Anthony Coleman, Susie Ibarra, Marc Ribot, Craig Taborn, and John Zorn, the Orchestra moves through Smith's bright landscapes with grace and color, the soloists outright shredding when the occasion calls for it. Their skillful readings highlight the shimmering subtlety and abiding spirituality of the music.

Cello, piano, guitar, bass, and ...