Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues

184

Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues

By

View read count
Warren Smith: Old News Borrowed Blues
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, James Stewart, Andrew Lamb, Douglas Yates and Claire Daly (saxophones), Jaribu Shahid (bass), Yoham "Chiquil" Ortiz (guitar) and percussionists Elusegun Sangofemi, Jose Abreu and Floyd Haber.

Though 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

John 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

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.