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Warren Smith
by Clifford Allen
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 ...
Continue ReadingWarren Smith: Race Cards
by Ty Cumbie
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 ...
Continue ReadingWarren Smith: My Musical Life In New York City
by AAJ Staff
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 ...
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