Jazz Articles about Warren Smith

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Warren Smith

by Clifford Allen
November 30, 2004

Drummer, percussionist and composer Warren Smith has arguably had one of the most varied careers of any improvising drummer, working with artists as diverse as Sam Rivers, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Bill Cole and Harry Partch. Though originally trained in modern classical percussion, jazz and improvised music became paramount after moving to New York in the late '50s. With Max Roach, he started the important percussion ensemble M'Boom Re: Percussion and Smith also opened one of the first and longest-running ...

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Warren Smith: Race Cards

by Ty Cumbie
March 18, 2004

On Race Cards, Warren Smith tells us how he sees the world right now. If the title sounds bombastic, relax: the bombs Smith tosses detonate with pleasing mellisonance. Mr. Smith’s recitative indictment of the powerful and their tactics is good-humored yet devastating. The Dixie Chicks said far less than this and were blacklisted. Mr. Smith has less to lose than they, and more to say. The politics of Race Cards may be what you’d expect from this ...

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Warren Smith: My Musical Life In New York City

by AAJ Staff
February 6, 2004

Submitted on behalf of Warren Smith After two or three brief visits, I came to New York City to stay in the fall of 1957. I had been born into a fabulous era on Chicago's South Side about five years after the great Depression. Things were not yet back to normal. We shared a lot: living spaces, food, entertainment, transportation, money and any other necessities. But there was a feeling that the President (FDR) cared and was ...