If you are not familiar with Wadada Leo Smith as an artist or as a thinker, you could start with The Chicago Symphonies and know that you are engaging with some of his finest work.
Jack DeJohnette
Jazz Albums Review: “Skyline” and “A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday” — Marching to the Beat of the Same Drummer
The presence of veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette ties together two new releases.
Concert Review: Hudson at the Berklee Performance Center
It’s clear these four musicians love playing together. As long as the magic lasts, it’s well worth your hearing.
Jazz CD Review: “Hudson” — Free Jazz in the Summer of Love
Hudson serves up varied, fresh, and exciting free jazz that imaginatively draws on rock, funky blues, and folk music.
Album Review: Wadada Leo Smith’s “The Great Lakes Suites” — A Miraculous Freedom
Wadada Leo Smith’s latest album features a series of miraculous performances that give a new meaning to freedom: the sometimes lengthy and airily open improvisations take us on journeys but never seem to wander.
Concert Review: Jack DeJohnette’s Spring Quartet — Creative Flexibility Times Four
The point of the Spring Quartet, one assumes, is to showcase its four multi-talented members, particularly their talents as composers.