Jazz Articles about Warren Smith

Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues

by Lyn Horton
August 3, 2009

Famous for his participation in Max Roach's percussionist band, M'Boom, drummer/vibraphonist Warren Smith has demonstrated with finesse how an approach stimulated by rhythm can become the impetus for larger ensemble music. A program of original compositions from his past, now arranged for brass, bass, guitar and percussion, is recorded for the first time in Old News Borrowed Blues. The album features a wonderful lineup in John Carlson and Cecil Bridgewater (trumpets), Joe Daley (euphonium), Jack Jeffers (bass trombone), Craig Rivers, ...

Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues

by Jerry D'Souza
July 20, 2009

Warren Smith (drums, vibraphone, percussion) does not have a deep discography as a leader, and so any recording by him is most welcome. All the music on this CD has been performed live but never released, and the wait makes hearing it all the sweeter.

Though his work as leader has been thin, Smith has played and recorded with some of jazz's more challenging musicians including Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, George Russell and Julius Hemphill. He was ...

Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues

by Raul d'Gama Rose
July 8, 2009

A record by Warren Smith--any record really--is cause for great celebration and Old News Borrowed Blues is no exception. Smith is not only one of the most stylish master percussionists and a truly accomplished musician. Why a musician of his caliber and standing, with over 300 compositions to his name, should have--after four decades in music--only five records (prior to this one) as leader will remain one of those mysteries of modern music. The title of this record--like his previous ...

Warren Smith: Natural/Cultural Forces

by John Sharpe
July 10, 2008

How best to impart compositional intent to a band? Musical notation, graphical diagrams, singing or playing parts or discussing motives and visions? Veteran percussionist Warren Smith has experienced the whole gamut over his 74 years, with everyone from Charles Mingus, Muhal Richard Abrams, Bill Dixon, Aretha Franklin and Van Morrison to contemporary classical composer Harry Partch. For his own Natural/Cultural Forces, Smith adopts the last approach to guide the imaginations of tenor saxophonist Andrew Lamb, French horn player Mark Taylor ...

Warren Smith: WIS on Monk

by Francis Lo Kee
January 13, 2008

Warren Smith WIS on Monk (Warren Smith Solo Percussion) Freedom Art 2007

To say Warren Smith has broad experience as a percussionist would be quite the understatement. His ability to play ALL percussion instruments in any musical style--jazz, Motown, Broadway, classical, rock and pop-- makes the Chicago-born Smith one of music's most valuable players. A list of the artists he's worked with would be endless. WIS on Monk is therefore an important and welcome ...

Warren Smith: Natural/Cultural Forces

by Greg Camphire
November 18, 2007

Multi-talented percussionist Warren Smith is one of the most versatile and inventive musicians to ever emerge from the fertile New York-based scene, though he may lack the name recognition of some of his more famous peers and collaborators, including Max Roach's all-star M'Boom ensemble, Gil Evans, Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton. Natural/Cultural Forces, which encompasses a lengthy quartet piece, three duets and two solo pieces, displays Smith's mastery of the trap set as well as a variety of tuned percussion ...

Living in the Shadows: Drummer Warren Smith Solos at UMass Amherst

by Lyn Horton
October 6, 2007

Warren Smith Solos and Duos Series, University of Massachusetts, Fine Arts Center Amherst, Massachusetts September 26, 2007

Musicians worth their salt practice their awareness of their heritage, be that ethnic or musical. Doing so gives them not only access to a wealth of precedence but also starting blocks for their own creations. The assimilation of the past stimulates the incentive to forge ahead without hindrance -- whether to belief, expression, or opportunity. It ...