Wadada Leo Smith - The Great Lakes Suites '2014

Tracks list

Wadada Leo Smith continues to surprise after winning 2013s Pulitzer Prize for
Music for Ten Freedom Summers. Smith has an extended relationship with Finlands
TUM label and has issued a series of high-quality recordings for them in a
variety of contexts. That said, The Great Lakes Suites is the very best of them
-- thus far -- and one of the finest in his long career. Containing six
suite-like compositions spread over two discs, each is named for a Great Lake
and one for Lake St. Clair. The album boasts a dream team of a band: Smith on
trumpet, alto saxophonist Henry Threadgill, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist
John Lindberg. Smiths intention was to reflect the flat surfaces of the lakes
and the volatility under their surfaces, but you dont need to get the concept in
order to thoroughly enjoy whats on offer. Each member is not only an exceptional
improviser but a composer as well. They play the material with the discipline,
creativity, and intuition required by each of those talents. The 22-minute Lake
Michigan has short melodic statements, but its DeJohnettes turbulent roil and
Lindbergs rumbling arco that fuel the middle. As the front line moves through
the lyric statements, the rhythm section draws out Threadgill, who unfurls from
sparse timbral exhalations to a flurry of spiraling arpeggios. Lake Superior
commences with the rhythm section as Lindberg establishes a minimal vamp. The
blurry blues feel of the horn players is extended by DeJohnettes active fills
and rolls. When the flowing dynamic is established, Lindberg begins to strum
with stops and double stops as Smith takes off with smatterings of tonal
multiphonics and bleating single notes. Threadgills solo comes right out of the
blues and turns them inside out as DeJohnette whirls atop, around, and through
him and Lindberg. The second disc contains equal panache. Lake Huron begins with
group improvisation that gives way to Lindbergs gorgeous arco solo -- in all
three registers -- as DeJohnette whispers in affirmation. Threadgills solo is a
fluid textural presentation and a set highlight. Smiths solo is in sharp
contrast; its slow, blue, and nearly sings the theme. He uses a minimal number
of notes to achieve a masterful exploration of the tunes parameters. On Lake St.
Clair, DeJohnette dances through each section as Smith offers different lyric
statements. Threadgill follows sparingly before the rhythmic interplay
eventually transforms the groove into a loose funk and Smith and Threadgill take
it out. The Great Lakes Suites is the most accessible of Smiths recordings.
Virtually any modern jazz fan can find a way inside these compositions thanks to
the depth of this collectives canny communicative dialogue.



Tracks:

Disc 1
1. Lake Michigan 22:01
2. Lake Ontario 9:19
3. Lake Superior 10:40

Disc 2
1. Lake Huron 17:25
2. Lake Erie 17:38
3. Lake St. Clair 13:40

Personnel:

Wadada Leo Smith – Trumpet
Henry Threadgill – Alto Saxophone, Flute and Bass Flute
John Lindberg – Double Bass
Jack DeJohnette – Drums 

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