Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2010

Courtesy of Cuneiform

Having just finished a book on Louis Armstrong, I’m in the mood for trumpet music. And Wadada Leo Smith, director of African-American Improvisational Music at CalArts, must be one of the best trumpeters alive. Although emanating from a ’60s free jazz Chicago tradition light years removed from Armstrong’s ’20s Dixieland, Smith’s palette of breathy, tonal colorations owe a debt to the pioneering trumpeter. The first disc situates Smith in the traditional, acoustic context of his Golden Quintet, which he leads through improvisations from the rumblings of “Al-Shadhili’s Litany of the Sea” to the mournful “South Central L.A. Kulture.” The second disc puts Smith in the context of his larger, electrified Organic group, and launches with an eerie take on the latter song. Both versions eventually find their way to a funky vamp, but through Smith’s acoustic and electric sides he shows himself to be one of the most flexible, expressive trumpeters alive today.