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SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS
RUNE 290/291
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Spiritual Dimensions is a double album that features two very special groups, both filled with truly great and legendary musicians! Both discs were recorded live to capture the energy and spirit that Smith's shows have.
The first disc is by his Golden Quintet. This disc is a modern/avant jazz release that has some distinctive electric touches and features many of the hallmarks of Wadada's work; space, depth, melody and abstraction:
Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet
Vijay Iyer – piano, synthesizer
John Lindberg – bass
Pheeroan AkLaff – drums
Don Moye – drums
The second disc is the first-ever release of Wadada's Organic group and is a completely different creature. It's a fully electric, four guitar, creative, bad-ass beast with slinky grooves, but the same hallmarks run through this set as well:
Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet
Nels Cline – guitar
Michael Gregory – guitar
Brandon Ross – guitar
Lamar Smith – guitar
Okkyung Lee – cello
John Lindberg – double bass
Skuli Sverrisson – electric bass
Pheeroan AkLaff – drums
The easiest comparison between the albums can be drawn by listening to the two different versions of the composition South Central L.A. Kulture, which appears at the last track by the Golden Quintet and as the first track by Organic; its inclusion here in two versions is a good example of how Smith’s compositions can mutate to embrace new settings.
"...a welcome reminder of Smith's continued importance in the continuum of creative improvised music." – All About Jazz
"...not only as inventive and adventurous as he was when he was a younger player, but his creativity and ability to direct a band into new territory is actually farther reaching than ever before. This is brilliant work." – All Music Guide
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TABLIGH
RUNE 270
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This is the third album by Wadada’s all-star Golden Quartet, which features:
Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet
Vijay Iyer – piano, Fender Rhodes & synthesizer
John Lindberg – bass
Shannon Jackson – drums
Recorded live, the sound on Tabligh veers from a sound akin to early electric jazz ala "In A Silent Way" and especially 'the lost quintet' of Miles in late 1969/early 1970, to both more sparse and modern jazz fare, all of it informed by the distinctive personalities of these four players and their leader's musical concepts.
Wadada Leo Smith is a well-respected trumpeter and composer working in avant-garde jazz and improvisation. He was an early member of Chicago’s legendary AACM, joining in 1967 and co-founded the Creative Construction Company, a trio with Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton in the late 60s. In 1971 Smith formed his own label, Kabell, for whom he recorded a number of albums considered classics of their kind. He is currently a professor of Music at the California Institute of the Arts, and is the director of the MFA program in African American Improvisation. Smith has studied a variety of music cultures (African, Japanese, Indonesian, European and American) and has developed a music theory, and a notation system to fully express this music which he calls "Ankhrasmation". He has been a major force in contemporary jazz for over 40 years and performs frequently throughout the world. We first worked with Wadada when we released the two "Yo Miles" albums, of which he was co-leader, and we both enjoyed working together so much that we decided to work together again on one of his own works.
"Smith is working at his highest level since the mid '70s. This quartet - with its combination of maturity, craftsmanship, and sense of adventure - is the perfect band to realize Smith's deepening vision." – Ed Hazell, Boston Globe |
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