Jazz Articles about Wadada Leo Smith

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Wadada Leo Smith: Wisdom in Time & Brooklyn Duos

by Kurt Gottschalk
September 8, 2007

Wadada Leo Smith/Gunter Baby Sommer Wisdom in Time Intakt 2007 John Coxon/Wadada Leo Smith Brooklyn Duos Treader 2007

The duo of Wadada Leo Smith and Günter Baby Sommer is the remains of a trio pulled together by the late bassist Peter Kowald some 30 years ago. The group recorded two excellent ...

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John Coxon / Wadada Leo Smith: Brooklyn Duos

by Eyal Hareuveni
August 26, 2007

John Coxon of the British drum n' bass duo Spring Heel Jack first collaborated with American trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith on the duo's last and most challenging and fully realized effort, The Sweetness of The Water (Thirsty Ear, 2004). This release was recorded a year later in Brooklyn by John Zorn collaborator Jamie Saft.

But whereas The Sweetness of the Water was a beautiful showcase of an emphatic and conversational meeting between Smith and another master ...

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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. ...

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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." ...

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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. ...

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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 ...

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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 ...