Wadada Leo Smith Explained

Wadada Leo Smith
Landscape:yes
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Date:1941 12, mf=yes
Birth Place:Leland, Mississippi, U.S.
Instrument:Trumpet

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941)[1] is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the field of creative music.[2] He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers, released on May 22, 2012.[3]

Biography

Smith was born in Leland, Mississippi, United States.[1] He started out playing drums, mellophone, and French horn before he settled on the trumpet. He played in various R&B groups and, by 1967, became a member of the AACM and co-founded the Creative Construction Company, a trio with Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton.[1] In 1971, Smith formed his own label, Kabell.[1] He also formed another band, the New Dalta Ahkri, with members including Henry Threadgill, Anthony Davis and Oliver Lake.[1]

In the 1970s, Smith studied ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. He played again with Anthony Braxton, as well as recording with Derek Bailey's Company.[1] In the mid-1980s, Smith became Rastafarian and began using the name Wadada.[1] In 1993, he began teaching at Cal Arts,[2] a position he held until 2014. In addition to trumpet and flugelhorn, Smith plays several world music instruments, including the koto, kalimba, and atenteben (Ghanaian bamboo flute). He has also taught courses in instrument making. His compositions often use a graphic notation system he calls "Ankhrasmation", which he developed in 1970.[1]

In 1998, Smith and guitarist Henry Kaiser released Yo, Miles!, a tribute to Miles Davis's then-lesser-known 1970s electric period.[2] On this album, Smith, Kaiser and a large cast of musicians recorded cover versions and original compositions inspired by Miles's electric music.[2] The follow-ups Sky Garden (released by Cuneiform in 2004) and Upriver (released in 2005) were recorded with a different cast of musicians.[2] Both line-ups featured Michael Manring on bass.

Smith's Golden Quartet (with which he has released several albums) originally featured Jack DeJohnette on drums, Anthony Davis on keyboards, and Malachi Favors on bass.[2] After several iterations, the Golden Quartet now features Pheeroan akLaff on drums, John Lindberg on bass, and Davis on piano.[2]

During the 2000s, Smith recorded albums for John Zorn's label Tzadik, as well as Pi Recordings. In 2008, he and his Golden Quartet released a DVD entitled Freedom Now.[2]

Smith has lived in New Haven, Connecticut for many years, a city where he helped create a prominent culture for creative music. [4]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Compilations

As sideman

With Muhal Richard Abrams

With Marion Brown

With Anthony Braxton

With Creative Construction Company

With Andrew Cyrille

With Leroy Jenkins

With Henry Kaiser

With Bill Laswell

With Frank Lowe

With Maurice McIntyre

With Roscoe Mitchell

With Matthew Shipp

With Spring Heel Jack

With John Zorn

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz. Colin Larkin. Guinness Publishing. 1992. First. 0-85112-580-8. 371/2.
  2. Web site: Wadada Leo Smith | Biography . . 1941-12-18 . 2014-03-23.
  3. Web site: The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation . Pulitzer.org . 2014-03-23.
  4. Web site: Four Score: A Conversation with Wadada Leo Smith on Turning 80 (Part One) . PostGenre . 2021-12-16. 12 December 2021 .
  5. Web site: Wadada Leo Smith And N'da Kulture:Golden Hearts Remembrance, by Chap Chap Records. 2021-03-07. Chap Chap Records.
  6. Web site: The Year of The Elephant, by Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet. 2021-03-07. Wadada Leo Smith.
  7. Web site: Wisdom in Time, by WADADA LEO SMITH. 2021-03-07. Günter Baby Sommer.
  8. Web site: Nessuno, by Pauline Oliveros + Roscoe Mitchell + John Tilbury + Wadada Leo Smith (IDA 035 – 2016). 2021-03-07. i dischi di angelica.
  9. Web site: Ten Freedom Summers, by Wadada Leo Smith. 2021-03-07. Cuneiform Records.
  10. Web site: Red Hill, by Wadada Leo Smith / Jamie Saft / Joe Morris / Balazs Pandi. 2021-03-07. Joe Morris / Riti / Glacial Erratic.
  11. Web site: America's National Parks, by Wadada Leo Smith. 2021-03-07. Cuneiform Records.
  12. Web site: Aspiration, by Satoko Fujii, Wadada Leo Smith, Natsuki Tamura, Ikue Mori. 2021-03-07. Satoko Fujii.
  13. Web site: The Haunt, by Bobby Naughton, Wadada Leo Smith, Perry Robinson. 2021-03-07. NoBusiness Records.
  14. Web site: Pacific Light and Water/Wu Xing – Cycle of Destruction, by Wadada Leo Smith / Barry Schrader. 2021-03-07. Barry Schrader.
  15. Web site: Sun Beans of Shimmering Light, by Wadada Leo Smith / Douglas R. Ewart / Mike Reed. 2021-03-07. Wadada Leo Smith / Douglas R. Ewart / Mike Reed.
  16. Web site: YO MILES! Lightning, by Henry Kaiser, Wadada Leo Smith. 2021-03-07. Henry Kaiser.
  17. Web site: YO MILES! Shinjuku, by Henry Kaiser, Wadada Leo Smith. 2021-03-07. Henry Kaiser.
  18. Web site: The Stone – April 22, 2014, by Wadada Leo Smith/Bill Laswell. 2021-03-07. M.O.D. Reloaded.

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