Wadada Leo Smith's Ten Freedom Summers

[Stefan Wood]

This looks very interesting!

From Amazon:

Lauded as one of the most vital musicians on the planet by Coda, and "one of the most imaginative and explorative composers in creative music." by John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most visionary, boldly original and artistically important figures in contemporary American Jazz and free music, and one of the most distinctive trumpet players of our time.

Spread out over four discs, Ten Freedom Summers is based on the Civil Rights Movement in the USA and Wadada Leo Smith has been working on it on and off for over 30 years. It features performances by his Golden Quartet/Quintet and a small chamber ensemble, including Anthony Davis, John Lindberg, Pheeroan AkLaaf, Susie Ibarra and others. Wadada's previous albums on Cuneiform have been extremely strong sellers and have received huge critical acclaim and strong radio play and Ten Freedom Summers is not only a truly remarkable recording, it is Wadada s piece de resistance of his musical accomplishments. Having recently turned 70 and more active now than anytime in his career, with Ten Freedom Summers , Wadada Leo Smith continues to point forward in his work.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Stefan Wood

[mjazzg]

Can't wait for this one

[mjazzg]

sample on Cuneiform site now. Sounds marvellous, just how I'd imagined WLS would marshall such resources - with precision, lightness and great soul. Here's hoping it's representative of the whole

Amazon.com gives 5/22 release date with pre=order at $24 which for a four disc set has got to be worth it

[CPC]

http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/smith.html

It seems you can now order this from Cuneiform. I just did.

[CPC]

http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/smith.html

It seems you can now order this from Cuneiform. I just did.

And mine arrived in the mail today. No time to listen til Sunday however.

[Clunky]

my copy arrived today, this set is going to take some digesting !!!

so far the variation between the Golden Quartet and the Southwest Chamber Music groups works well.

[Head Man]

http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/smith.html

It seems you can now order this from Cuneiform. I just did.

Thanks for the heads-up...I've just ordered mine too.

[Head Man]

Mine arrived this morning and I'm currently listening CD1.

First impressions are very favourable but I wonder whether four CDs and over four hours of music might be a bit OTT.

....we shall see.

[mjazzg]

For those of us enjoying this release or even trying to come to terms with it and for those who're wondering what its all about - an interesting interview providing WLS's thoughts on the music and the wider perspective that helped create it, is here

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=42276&pg=1

[Clunky]

Wadada was interviewed last night on BBC Jazz on 3 - not managed to listen yet but should be interesting, Ken Vandermark is the interviewer.

[mjazzg]

Wadada was interviewed last night on BBC Jazz on 3 - not managed to listen yet but should be interesting, Ken Vandermark is the interviewer.

thanks very much for highlighting that. I seem to have completely forgotten about Jon3's existence since it's move to such a convenient time....never even look at the schedule, my loss.

Off to 'listen again' soon

[Eric]

I have listened to Wadada on and off over the years. Always liked the tone of his trumpet and the overall vibe.

I recently bought the Ten Freedom Summers set. With four CDs, there is certainly much to absorb.

While I enjoy reading what others have to say about music, I don't like to write about it much myself. So no long write-up here, other than to say that I find this music to be outstanding!! I think this is one that I will continue to dig into and come back to over time. Words that come to mind to describe it: strong, sparse, beautiful, substantive, interesting. Parts of it actually remind me of one of my favorite Miles Davis lps, My Funny Valentine.

Just very happy to have discovered this