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LaDonna Smith

About Me

My Jazz Story

Jazz has morphed into one of those genres that is so varied from its history, to current styles and purpose that it is impossible to define. Beginning with the hot swing, the blues, and the big band era, still well known and popular today, it has evolved into ever more contemporary styles and direction, to freer based improvisations on traditional rhythmic and harmonic structures to the free improvisation of psychic automatism, a cultural phenomenon of music making that can be played and shared by professional musicians as well as and along with non-musicians and amateurs. This is the beauty of the beast. From high levels of technical instrumental proficiency and musicality, to raw experimentation, all of it has the potential to bring people together in a musical environment of creative community, or personal sonic explorations. Free improvisation requires skilled listeners to comprehend it's rich palette, because the diversity of instruments and styles are comprehensive, bringing full circle the sonic rhythmic and melodic discoveries of pre-history through advanced eras of the musics of many cultures and time periods to the phenonenon of alleatoric, stochastic, noise, and indeterminate processes of totally free and un-preconceived improvisations produced vocally, instrumentally or with the aid of electronic circuits and computers. So, this music is no longer identified as much as specifically cultural as it is universally presented worldwide in many permutations, and in many regards informed by a sense of world-music awareness. Interestingly however, this is an awareness is largely shared by its practitioners, the "jazz" musicians & contemporary composers and musicians around the world, which in itself is a highly proprietary group and small percentage of the population of our earth. Most musical output that is churned out by media outlets, movies, and popular broadcasts reduce to entertainment and commercial values, thereby maintaining a status of general ignorance by the public of the vast possibilities, power and potential of their association with music. On the positive side, those who participate, either as listeners or practitioners have a vast opportunity and glimpse of possibilities to absorb and create within the canvas of musical language which has long been held as Universal. The cutting edge is exactly that authentic expression through sound, whether one approaches musical creativity, sonic awareness, or critical listening from the heart, mentality, or Spirit.

My House Concert Story

Birmingham Alabama has produced it's share of musicians and artists. From Tuxedo Junction, Sun Ra, Diana Ross, and other notables to it's vibrant free improvisation community of the 70's, 80's, 90's and current vibrant young practitioners. Free improvisation emerged in the 70's, with concerts in bookstores, dance studios, parks, and bars. Encompassing music, noise, dance, poetry, theater, and giant puppets, our scene though not large at any one time has always been edgy and vibrant. A neighborhood community of artists and musicians spawned the Raudelunas Pataphysical Revue, Trans Museq, Say Daybew, and many various permutations of outsider improvisation gigs and concerts. The Birmingham Improv Festival began in the 1990's, the Improvisor Festival of 2010 marked the thirty year anniversary of the improvisor magazine journal of free improvisation. Many house concerts, underground concerts literally in basements and living rooms, and small venues around town, which include various galleries, bars, and many cutting edge gigs are currently hosted by Secret Stages, the Firehouse and East Village Arts of Birmingham and sites such as Sloss Furnace, the street, Railroad Park and the great outdoors. It would be extremely difficult to name them all, as many are obscure and not funded, but free music is being made, even as a well kept secret.