Jazz Articles about Walter Smith III

About Walter Smith III

Liner Notes

Anthony Branker: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements

by Michael Ambrosino
February 8, 2023

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 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Walter Smith III: Listen To The Young Players

by Leo Sidran
May 16, 2022

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 ...

Album Review

Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens: In Common III

Read "In Common III" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
March 17, 2022

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 ...

Album Review

Marquis Hill: New Gospel Revisited

Read "New Gospel Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
March 4, 2022

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. ...

Album Review

Remy Le Boeuf: Light as a Word

Read "Light as a Word" reviewed by Jordan Penney

by Jordan Penney
April 10, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

Dave Stryker: Baker's Circle

Read "Baker's Circle" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 11, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

Eric Binder: Hard Bop

Read "Hard Bop" reviewed by Phillip Woolever

by Phillip Woolever
September 25, 2020

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 ...