Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Wadada Leo Smith: Trumpet

Wadada Leo Smith: Trumpet

By Karl Ackermann
May 25, 2021
View read count

In a half-century of recording, he has never stopped exploring the parameters of the form and instrument. Listening to composer/trumpeter

Wadada Leo Smith

trumpet
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Wadada Leo Smith is demanding but rewarding. His inspirations are classical in the small 'c' sense: the AACM, Persian music, August Wilson, Stravinsky, spirituals, and so on. Before the masses woke, Smith's music had incorporated political, cultural, spiritual, and environmental awareness. The elder statesman of new music continues his prolific output with TUM Records box sets for the first half of 2021. His Sacred Ceremonies three-disc release features bassist

Bill Laswell

bass
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Laswell and the late drummer

Milford Graves

drums
1940 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Milford Graves, in duo and trio combinations. Trumpet, also a three-CD set, is solo Smith.

Smith began his recording career with a solo album, Creative Music (TMS Records, 1971). It was later included on the four-disc Kabell Years (Tzadik, 2004), along with Solo Music: Ahkreanvention (Kabell, 1979). More recently, Smith recorded his interpretations of

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk compositions, and Monk-inspired originals, on Solo: Reflections And Meditations On Monk (TUM, 2017).

Where Smith's playing has always shone brightest is in the difficult-to-play lower register. He opens the first disc there with "

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler," a piece that reflects the trumpeter's appreciation of the saxophonist's spirituality. The five-part "The Great Litany—A Reflective Memory of al-Shadhili" is a highlight of this collection. Across nearly twenty minutes, Smith pays tribute to the thirteenth-century founder of the Sufi order of Sunni Islam. The suite is thoughtful and substantive. Of equal length is "Discourses on the Sufi Path—A Remembrance of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh." In four movements, Smith celebrates Nurbakhsh's influence over his practice of Islam. A final suite, "Family—A Contemplation of Love," reflects the natural development of that unit through the similar growth of the music.

Trumpet was recorded at Saint Mary's Church in Pohja, Finland, in the summer of 2020; the acoustics adding further weight to Smith's opulent, dazzling tone. Much of the two-plus hours is somber but uplifting. Smith's compositions are sophisticated and expressive, his playing, clear as a bell. A bonus with the box set is the striking self-portrait cover art. Highly recommended.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Disc 1: 01 Albert Ayler / 02-06 Rashomon: Parts 1-5 / 07 Howard and Miles - A Photographic Image / 08 Metallic Rainbow (For Steve McCall) / 09 Sauna - A Healthy Journey (For Petri) Disc 2: 01 Malik al-Shabazz and the People of the Shahada / 02-06 The Great Litany - A Reflective Memory of al-Shadhili: Parts 1-5 / 07 Leroy Jenkins Violin Expressions / 08 James Baldwin - No Name in the Street; War / 09 Amina Claudine Myers Disc 3: 01 Sonic Night - Night Colors (For Reggie Workman) / 02-05 Discourses on the Sufi Path - A Remembrance of Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh: Parts 1-4 / 06-09 Family - A Contemplation of Love: Parts 1- 4 / 10 Trumpet

Personnel

Wadada Leo Smith

trumpet

Album information

Title: Trumpet | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: TUM Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Thomas Chapin III: Unearthed
< Previous

A Different Drummer, Part 3: Pino Ba...
Next >

Wadada Leo Smith Concerts

Oct 17 Fri

Vilnius Jazz 2025: Wadada Leo Smith - Sylvie Courvoisier...

Vilnius Old Theatre
Vilnius, Lithuania

Support All About Jazz

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.