Divine Love (album) explained

Divine Love
Type:	Album
Artist:	Leo Smith
Cover:	Divine Love (album).jpg
Released:	1979
Recorded:	September 1978
Studio:	Tonstudio Bauer Ludwigsburg, West Germany
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	45:53
Label:	ECM 1143
Producer:	Manfred Eicher
Chronology:	Wadada Leo Smith
Prev Year:	1979
Next Title:	Budding of a Rose
Next Year:	1979

Divine Love is an album by American jazz trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith, recorded in September 1978 and released on ECM the following year. The trio features multi-instrumentalists Dwight Andrews and Bobby Naughton, with guest appearances from trumpeters Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler on one track and bassist Charlie Haden on another.^{[1] [2]}

Reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection.^[3]

In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "Smith acts as conductor, soloist, and his own sideman here; he opens the field on Divine Love through the authority of his players, each of whom receives the colorful possibilities he presents with unguarded openness and the desire to expand on them."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Leo Smith

1. "Divine Love" - 21:47
2. "Tastalun" - 6:38
3. "Spirituals: Language of Love" - 15:28

Personnel

• Leo Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn, gong, percussion
• Dwight Andrews – alto flute, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, triangles, mbira
• Bobby Naughton – vibraharp, marimba, bells
• Lester Bowie, Kenny Wheeler – trumpet (track 2)
• Charlie Haden – bass (track 3)

Notes and References

1. http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1100/1143.php? ECM discography
2. Web site: Wadada Leo Smith discography . Jazz Lists . jazzlists.com . 4 June 2018.
3. Book: Cook, Richard. Richard Cook (journalist). Brian Morton . Brian Morton (Scottish writer) . The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 1992. 9th. The Penguin Guide to Jazz. 2008. Penguin. New York. 978-0-14-103401-0. 1309. Wadada Leo Smith.
4. Web site: Wadada Leo Smith: Divine Love . Thom . Jurek . AllMusic . November 1, 2022.