Composer/trumpeter
Wadada Leo Smith has been recording for
TUM Records, Finland's premier vanguard jazz label, since releasing the orchestral work
Occupy the World in 2013. A year later, he released the sprawling
Great Lakes Suites, performed by his
Great Lakes Quartet (
Smith on trumpet;
Jack DeJohnnette, drums and percussion;
John Lindberg, double bass;
Henry Threadgill, saxophones and flutes).
TUM has spent 2021 commemorating
Smith's 80th year with archival and new releases. November 2021 saw the release of the trio offering
A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday with
DeJohnette and pianist
Vijay Iyer, and
The Chicago Symphonies, performed by two editions of the
Great Lakes Quartet.
The Chicago Symphonies were inspired by
Don Cherry's 1966 album
Symphony for Improvisers for jazz sextet.
Smith used it to write music, "intended to illustrate and preserve the powerfully unique cultural contribution that the Midwesterners made in helping to shape the American society." The four-disc box set contains a disc for each multi-movement symphony.
Smith explores longer musical forms by employing varying themes and motifs for his sidemen to interact with, explore, and improvise on. Each movement focuses on a different persona, theme, and/or creative expression. In the first movement of "Gold Symphony," he offers a tribute to pianist, composer, and singer
Amina Claudine Myers. His muted horn and
Threadgill's alto saxophone exchange song-like statements with ticking, double-timed cymbals and rim shots from
DeJohnette. The
Ornette Coleman-esque lyricism in the second movement for the
Art Ensemble of Chicago is appended by a glorious pizzicato solo from
Lindberg as horns bleat urgently. In "Diamond Symphony"'s first movement,
Smith offers a spacious, haunting tribute to
Air, the historic vanguard trio
Threadgill played in with
Steve McCall and
Fred Hopkins. Its final movement acknowledges the harmonic and rhythmic contribution of
DeJohnette and the various bands he's led. In each section
Smith directly references ghost traces of the blues as thematic material. "Pearl Symphony" offers separate, abstracted tributes to the various musical considerations of
Anthony Braxton and
Leroy Jenkins, his collaborators in
Creative Construction Company. The knotty opening section with
Smith's and
Threadgill's striated counterpoint outlines the theme as bassist and drummer engage in stop-and-start cadences underscoring each pass before the symphony explores poets,
Sun Ra,
Phil Cohran, and
Smith's own
Ten Freedom Summers across bubbling solos, duets, trios, and quartet engagements. The final "Sapphire Symphony" places alto saxophonist
Jonathon Haffner in
Threadgill's chair. Subtitled "The Presidents and Their Vision for America," it moves across vanguard jazz and postmillennial classical schema in exploring tones, overtones, and modes with post-bop, free improv, and even jazz-funk. The quartet's interplay between in the fourth movement is as startling as it is imaginative. It's conceivable
The Chicago Symphonies could possibly benefit from the extra textures an orchestra provides, but
Smith's compelling writing, combined with the seamless intuitive interaction of this small group, illustrates a magnificent musical language that remains unfettered in its creative potential despite its intense focus. ~ Thom Jurek
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