CURATION
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from this page:
by Matrix
Network Node
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Name:
Wadada Leo Smith
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City/Place:
Los Angeles, California
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Country:
United States
Current News
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What's Up?
Artist Statement
Over the last several years, I’ve come to great conflict in accepting the word “improvisation” and its common use in practice as being able to define what I and some of my colleagues are doing today.
Since “improvisation” has been adopted in the academic fields of inquiry, it, “improvisation” as an idea has come to mean almost anything conceptually. The word and the understanding of “improvisation” has lost its uniqueness and has reduced its capacity to capture the musical creation of artists such as: Scott Joplin, Ma Rainey, Louis Armstrong, Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Duke Ellington, Paul Gonsalves, John Lewis, Miles Davis, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Lester Bowie, Alice Coltrane, George Russell, Geri Allen, Jeanne Lee, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Carla Bley, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Muhal Richard Abrams and the creative music community.
There are five types of creation. The word Create has three types of classification, and Creation has two.
I offer the word Create as a clear definition, whose meaning is in direct context with the process of making art in the present moment. Create also refers to a performer in an ensemble who is creating their own part while the ensemble is playing music that is composed or learned.
In addition, the second use of the word Create means that a performer is creating a solo that is dominant in relationship to the ensemble. It is dominant because the soloist is not dominated by the ensemble’s performance, but the ensemble is depended upon the soloist. Also, it is a new element added to the music and has more power than a performer creating a line to match the composed music; here it’s just the opposite.
Third, if there are two or more soloing at the same time within the grid as a collective of soloists, this is known as a Creation.
Creation serves as the opposite of composition, and therefore it refers to a work of art in the same respect as composition. It is not unlike composition in this sense, it has signs and symbols which could also be found in composition. Also, unlike composition the performers use those signs and symbols to generate a work of art, whose dimensions are realized in the present moment. We call that art-object Creation. Creation should be copyrighted as a musical work owned by the composer-performer, soloist, and the collective soloists.
I am confident in the future of creative music, because one day there will be a group of young men and women scholars who will care about this music, and document their research concerning the art forms that the creative artist has realized. Those future scholars will put the ideas of the creative music back into the flow of world knowledge and in a profound language that any person can come to know what happened in the performance arts on this little planet, Earth.
The creative artists have always strived to make the world a better place through their ideas and music performances, serving all people. Creative music and the arts are for everyone and most specifically those who can and will make the effort to confront themselves in a direct search for truth. And because of their efforts, those people live adventurously in their discoveries of themselves and the secrets of life.
What we discover is right in front of us, and also enclosed inside of our hearts, just waiting for us to realize and accept our presence on this planet.
What defines all of us as human beings is the inspiration and knowledge to make coherent choices, informed through science, art, and authentic spiritual practice to develop a genuine care for others and the world we live in.
Life
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Bio:
Wadada Leo Smith was born in Leland, Mississippi, and his musical life began in high school concert and marching bands. At the age of thirteen, he became involved with the Delta Blues and other music traditions.
Mr. Smith received his formal musical education from his stepfather Alex “Little Bill” Wallace, composer and guitarist, and one of the pioneers of electric guitar in Delta Blues. He was further educated through the U.S. Military band program at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (1963); Sherwood School of Music (1967-69); and Wesleyan University (1975-76). He has researched a variety of music cultures: African, Japanese, Indonesian, European and American.
Wadada Leo Smith, trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser is one of the most acclaimed creative artists of his times, both for his music and his writings. For the last five decades, Mr. Smith has been a member of the historical and legendary AACM collective. He distinctly defines his music as “Creative Music.” Mr. Smith’s diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world.
Mr. Smith started his research and designs in search of Ankhrasmation in 1965. His first realization of this language was in 1967, which was illustrated in the recording of The Bell (Anthony Braxton: ‘Three Compositions of New Jazz’), and has played a significant role in his development as an artist, ensemble leader, and educator.
He has been on the faculty of the following institutions: The University of New Haven (1975-’76), The Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY (1975-’78), and Bard College (1987-’93). From 1994 he was on the faculty at The Herb Alpert School of Music at California Institute of the Arts. There he was the director of the African-American Improvisational Music program. Mr. Smith retired from CalArts in 2013.
He is a member of these professional organizations: ASCAP, Chamber Music America, and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.
Mr. Smith’s awards and commissions include: DownBeat Magazine’s 65th Annual Critics Poll: Artist, Trumpet, and Album of the Year (America’s National Parks). Mr. Smith is featured on the cover of the August 2017 issue of DownBeat. And in the 2016 Jazz Times’ Critics Poll, he was honored the Artist of the Year.
His America’s National Parks earned wide praise as one of the best albums of 2016 from media like The New York Times, the NPR Jazz Critics Poll, The Wire and many other publications.
A finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, he received the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award and earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus.
Mr. Smith was also honored by the Jazz Journalists Association as their 2017 Musician of the Year as well as the 2017 Duo of the Year for his work with Vijay Iyer. The JJA also named him their 2016 Trumpeter of the Year, 2015 Composer of the Year, and 2013 Musician of the Year. Also, in 2013 he was also selected as DownBeat’s Composer of the Year and he graced the cover of that magazine in November 2016.
Wadada Leo Smith’s Ankhrasmation language scores have recently been exhibited in major American museums. In October 2015, The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago presented the first comprehensive exhibition of these language scores. In 2016, the scores were also featured in the Hammer Museum’s ‘Made in L.A.’ exhibition; he also received the Hammer Museum’s 2016 Mohn Award for Career Achievement honoring brilliance and resilience.
His scores have also been shown at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan, and Kadist Art Foundation in San Francisco, California.
Ten Freedom Summers, (Defining Moments in the
History of the United States of America) is a large work (four-CD box set) inspired by the civil rights movement. TFS has been awarded: MAP Fund Award (2011), Chamber Music America New Works Grant (2010), NEA Recording Grant (2010), commissioned by Southwest Chamber Music with support from the James Irvine Foundation and Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, and Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2009-2010).
He was awarded an Other Minds residency, that commissioned Taif, a string quartet (2008); simultaneously a Fellow of the Jurassic Foundation (2008); FONT (Festival of New Trumpet) Award of Recognition (2008); Islamic World Arts Initiative of Arts International (2004); Fellow of the Civitela Foundation (2003); Fellow at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (2001); “Third Culture Copenhagen” in Denmark presented a paper on Ankhrasmation (1996); Meet the Composer/Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program (1996); Asian Cultural Council Grantee to Japan (June-August 1993); Meet the Composer/Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program (1990); New York Foundation on the Arts Fellowship in Music (1990); Numerous Meet the Composer Grants (since 1977); and National Endowment for the Arts Music Grants (1972, 1974, 1981).
Writings:
Mr. Smith’s music philosophy Notes (8 Pieces) Source a New. World Music: Creative Music, originally published by Kiom Press (1973), translated and published in Japan by Zen-On Music Company Ltd. (1976). In 1981 Notes was translated into Italian and published by Nistri-Litschi Editori. An expanded edition of Notes (8 Pieces) has been published in 2015.
In 1996 Mr. Smith presented a paper on his Ankhrasmation music language at the “Third Culture Copenhagen” conference, along with artists, scientists and philosophers. His interview was recorded for Denmark T.V., broadcasted in September 1996.
Some of the artists Mr. Smith has performed with are: Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Cecil Taylor, Steve McCall, Anthony Davis, Carla Bley, Don Cherry, Jeanne Lee, Tadao Sawai, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Blackwell, Kazuko Shiraishi, Han Bennink, Marion Brown, Charlie Haden, Malachi Favors Magoustous, Jack Dejohnette, Vijay Iyer, Ikue Mori, Min Xiao Fen, Bill Laswell, John Zorn, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Frank Lowe, among many others.
His compositions have been performed by many contemporary music ensembles: RedKoral Quartet, Orkiestra Symfoniczna NFM (Wroclaw), AACM-Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Da Capo Chamber Player, New Century Players, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Contemporary Chamber Players (University of Chicago), S.E.M. Ensemble, Southwest Chamber Music, Del Sol String Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble, ne(x)tworks, and California E.A.R. Unit.
For over two decades, Mr. Smith has been creating music for multiple ensembles. Some of these works take several days to perform: Ten Freedom Summers (2011, RedCat, Los Angeles); “Tabligh” for double-ensemble was performed by Golden Quartet and Classical Persian ensemble at Merkin Concert Hall (2006); Golden Quartet and Suleyman Erguner’s Classical Turkish ensemble at Akbank Music Festival in Istanbul (2007). His largest work “Odwira” for 12 multi-ensembles (52 instrumentalists) was performed at California Institute of the Arts (March 1995).
Clips (more may be added)
The Integrated Global Creative Economy
Wolfram Mathematics
From Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, the unprecedented integration of the creative economy. Creators planet-wide positioned within reach of each other and the entire world by means of technology + small-world theory (see Wolfram above). Bahia was final port-of-call for more enslaved human beings than any other place on earth throughout all of human history. It was refuge for Sephardim fleeing the Inquisition. It is Indigenous both apart and subsumed into a sociocultural matrix which is all of these: a small-world matrix. Neural structures for human memory are small-world. This technological matrix is small-world...
In small worlds great things are possible.
Alicia Svigals
"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
—Alicia Svigals (NEW YORK CITY): Apotheosis of klezmer violinists
"I'm truly thankful ... Sohlangana ngokuzayo :)"
—Nduduzo Makhathini (JOHANNESBURG): piano, Blue Note recording artist
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers (BOSTON): Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory ... Former personal recording engineer for Prince; "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"
"Dear Sparrow, Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
—Julian Lloyd Webber (LONDON): Premier cellist in UK; brother of Andrew (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera...)
"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
—Clarice Assad (RIO DE JANEIRO/CHICAGO): Pianist and composer with works performed by Yo Yo Ma and orchestras around the world
"We appreciate you including Kamasi in the matrix, Sparrow."
—Banch Abegaze (LOS ANGELES): manager, Kamasi Washington
"Thanks! It looks great!....I didn't write 'Cantaloupe Island' though...Herbie Hancock did! Great Page though, well done! best, Randy"
"Very nice! Thank you for this. Warmest regards and wishing much success for the project! Matt"
—Son of Jimmy Garrison (bass for John Coltrane, Bill Evans...); plays with Herbie Hancock and other greats...
Dear friends & colleagues,
Having arrived in Salvador 13 years earlier, I opened a record shop in 2005 in order to create an outlet to the wider world for Bahian musicians, many of them magisterial but unknown.
David Dye & Kim Junod for NPR found us (above), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (he's a huge jazz fan), David Byrne, Oscar Castro-Neves... Spike Lee walked past the place while I was sitting on the stoop across the street drinking beer and listening to samba from the speaker in the window...
But we weren't exactly easy for the world-at-large to get to. So in order to extend the place's ethos I transformed the site associated with it into a network wherein Brazilian musicians I knew would recommend other Brazilian musicians, who would recommend others...
And as I anticipated, the chalky hand of God-as-mathematician intervened: In human society — per the small-world phenomenon — most of the billions of us on earth are within some 6 or fewer degrees of each other. Likewise, within a network of interlinked artists as I've described above, most of these artists will in the same manner be at most a handful of steps away from each other.
So then, all that's necessary to put the Bahians and other Brazilians within possible purview of the wide wide world is to include them among a wide wide range of artists around that world.
If, for example, Quincy Jones is inside the matrix (people who have passed are not removed), then anybody on his page — whether they be accessing from a campus in L.A., a pub in Dublin, a shebeen in Cape Town, a tent in Mongolia — will be close, transitable steps away from Raymundo Sodré, even if they know nothing of Brazil and are unaware that Sodré sings/dances upon this planet. Sodré, having been knocked from the perch of fame and ground into anonymity by Brazil's dictatorship, has now the alternative of access to the world-at-large via recourse to the vast potential of network theory.
...to the degree that other artists et al — writers, researchers, filmmakers, painters, choreographers...everywhere — do also. Artificial intelligence not required. Real intelligence, yes.
Years ago in NYC I "rescued" unpaid royalties (performance & mechanical) for artists/composers including Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Mongo Santamaria, Jim Hall, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (for his rights in Bob Marley compositions; Clement was Bob's first producer), Led Zeppelin, Ray Barretto, Philip Glass and many others. Aretha called me out of the blue vis-à-vis money owed by Atlantic Records. Allen Klein (managed The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles) called about money due the estate of Sam Cooke. Jerry Ragovoy (Time Is On My Side, Piece of My Heart) called just to see if he had any unpaid money floating around out there (the royalty world was a shark-filled jungle, to mangle metaphors, and I doubt it's changed).
But the pertinent client (and friend) in the present context is Earl "Speedo" Carroll, of The Cadillacs. Earl went from doo-wopping on Harlem streetcorners to chart-topping success to working as a custodian at PS 87 elementary school on the west side of Manhattan. Through all of this he never lost what made him great.
Greatness and fame are too often conflated. The former should be accessible independently of the latter.
Matrix founding creators are behind "one of 10 of the best (radios) around the world", per The Guardian.
Recent access to this matrix and Bahia are from these places (a single marker can denote multiple accesses).
Across the creative universe... For another list, reload page.
This list is random, and incomplete. Reload the page for another list.
For a complete list of everybody inside, tap TOTAL below:
TOTAL
Nduduzo Makhathini
Susan Rogers
Julian Lloyd Webber
Clarice Assad
Kamasi Washington
Randy Brecker
Matt Garrison
RÁDIO MATRIX