Jazz Articles about Wadada Leo Smith

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 ...

Wadada Leo Smith/Susie Ibarra/John Zorn: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 8

by Rex Butters
April 24, 2005

More live recordings from the Month of Zorn, a run of concerts celebrating the iconoclastic altoist's 50th birthday, this one encoding two very different sets. The first series features duets with percussion dakini Susie Ibarra. Ibarra abandons the more measured performances of recent Tzadik CDs and returns to the firestorm approach from her days with the David S. Ware Quartet. While the Wadada Leo Smith duets cool out Zorn with no loss of daring, they seem to invigorate Smith. Only ...

A Fireside Chat with Wadada Leo Smith

by AAJ Staff
September 20, 2004

I am reminded daily that perfection is an endless pursuit and that those who are in the arena often go unnoticed and unrewarded. But it is because of their artistic valor that creativity remains. Their innovative spirit keeps us from the abyss and for that we are beholden to them.

All About Jazz: What disciplines did you attain from your association with the AACM?

Wadada Leo Smith: One of the most important ones if that you really shape your own ...

Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years 1971-1979

by Rex Butters
June 11, 2004

Wadada Leo Smith Kabell Years 1971-1979 Tzadik 2004

John Zorn's Tzadik label continues to honor the genius of Wadada Leo Smith, this time with a crucial collection of material he recorded and released himself on his Kabell label in the seventies. This four-CD box set gathers Creative Music 1, Reflectativity, Song of Humanity, and Ahkreanvention, plus over two hours of unreleased material.

Creative Music 1 features Smith solo. Like his ...