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Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues
ByThough individual brass instruments occasionally step to the foreground (tenor sax in "Rivers State Suite"; alto, tenor, soprano and baritone sax, trumpet and trombone in "Free Forms 1-4"), the frontline is the percussion. Particularly in the first four cuts, the two instrumental groups establish a pattern of pushing each other through the music. The bass has a pulsating role, but moves in rapid fire pizzicato and firm walking lines in "Free Form 1-4"; guitar peeks through in light pizzicato licks as the remaining tones drop away ("Rivers State Suite," "One More Lick for Harold Vick").
Smith's lively vibraphone solos float above the backdrop of brass and drums, behaving like the main character visiting an ongoing story. "Free Forms 1-4," four of Smith's ten early experiments in improvised music, are all connected; over a sultry sax line at first, Smith's recitation of his poetry, describing love, amidst cacophony and confusion as the model of peace and tolerance, is the coda.
Track Listing
Lock the Toilet Door; Rivers State Suite; The Hungarian Gypsy Song; One More Lick for Harold Vick; Free Forms 1-4.
Personnel
Warren Smith
drumsJohn Carlton: trumpet and flugelhorn; Cecil Bridgewater: trumpet and flugelhorn; Joe Daley: euphonium; Jack Jeffers: bass trombone; Craig Rivers: soprano saxophone; James Stewart: tenor saxophone; Douglas Yates: alto saxophone; Andrew Lamb: tenor saxophone soloist (2); Claire Daly: baritone saxophone; Jaribu Shahid: bass violin; Yoham "Chiqui" Ortiz: guitar; Elusegun Sangofemi: African percussion; Jose Abreu: African percussion; Lloyd Haber: drums, vibraphone and percussion; Warren Smith: drums, vibraphone and percussion.
Album information
Title: Old News Borrowed Blues | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: ESP Disk