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About Walter Smith III
Anthony Branker: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements
by Michael Ambrosino
Ma Rainey channeled music as her ritual of “singing to understand life." Congressman John Lewis leveraged music towards the “good trouble" he created fighting for civil rights in an uncivil land. Anthony Branker understands music as the calculus of his life's work—the art of weaving words and sound into transcendent tapestries that explore the rich, complex, and nuanced aspects of intolerance, beauty, prejudice, spirituality, gender, equality and social justice. The composite of this artistry exists within the remarkable ...
Continue ReadingWalter Smith III: Listen To The Young Players
by Leo Sidran
From an early age, Walter Smith III began taking music very seriously. “My first gig was playing at a McDonalds in Houston]} with another saxophonist. I took a solo on “Blue Bossa." It was terrible. People clapped, and I figured if I could get away with that and get applause, how could I fail?" <br /><br />Although it may appear Smith is a new voice on the scene, he is widely recognized as an adept performer, accomplished composer, and inspired ...
Continue ReadingWalter Smith III & Matthew Stevens: In Common III
by Chris May
The third iteration of tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens' In Common project is another delightfully lyrical and inventive affair. Each of the albums presents Smith and Stevens in the company of a different three-piece rhythm section. The first had vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The second had pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Nate Smith. On In Common III, the quintet is completed by pianist ...
Continue ReadingMarquis Hill: New Gospel Revisited
by Chris May
Chicago-born trumpeter Marquis Hill released his first album while still in college and in 2022, just over a decade later, he has retooled it on New Gospel Revisited, recorded live in his hometown with a fresh lineup and tweaked instrumentation. It is a terrific disc. Like his near contemporary and fellow trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Hill holds his music to be part of a broad musical continuum that includes genres other than jazz, notably hip hop. ...
Continue ReadingRemy Le Boeuf: Light as a Word
by Jordan Penney
Light as a Word is the debut full-length album from saxophonist and composer Remy Le Boeuf as a leader, and it moves fluidly in liminal spaces. Its format and its performers—a sextet that includes piano, guitar, double bass, drums and tenor and alto sax—are firmly in a jazz idiom. But the songs themselves are more through-composed than is typical for a group such as this, and Le Boeuf's approach as a bandleader seems to involve carefully creating space for each ...
Continue ReadingDave Stryker: Baker's Circle
by Jack Bowers
On Baker's Circle, guitarist Dave Stryker revisits a format in which he is quite comfortable: an organ-driven rhythm ensemble whose emphasis is on hard-nosed contemporary swing. There is, however, a refreshing exclamation mark this time around in the person of able-bodied tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, and one more fringe benefit (on three tracks): percussionist Mayra Casales, who adds even more energy to an already vigorous session. Jared Gold is the soulful organist, with versatile drummer McClenty ...
Continue ReadingEric Binder: Hard Bop
by Phillip Woolever
Eric Binder is a drummer based in the Chicago area gaining recognition as a teacher and technician who combines slick sequencing and academic awareness to create modern masterworks with a classic jazz sound. This abbreviated yet consistently inspiring album affirms Binder as a rising force on the US jazz scene. Authenticity is obviously vital to Binder, who earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and teaches at three colleges. He has multiple, academic-based publications to ...
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