Showing posts with label Warren Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warren Smith. Show all posts

Monday, July 26, 2021

Michael Marcus - Stone Jump (July 2021 Not Two)

Michael Marcus composed these lyrical jazz works to create a message about "New York City realities", recorded in two studio sessions with Marcus on soprano & tenor sax, octavin, A clarinet & tarogato, along with Denton Darien on piano, John Austria on Fender Rhodes, Tyler Mitchell on bass, Warren Smith on drums & percussion, and Lawrence Feldman on alto flute.

01. Stone Jump
02. The World Street
03. Dawn at Qumran
04. Fusion Anatomy
05. Baja
06. Involution
07. Flowering Optics
08. The T Man
09. Foreverness
10. Where Flamingos Dance

Michael Marcus - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, octavin, "A" clarinet, tarogato
Denton Darien - piano
John Austria - Fender Rhodes piano
Tyler Mitchell - acoustic bass
Warren Smith - drums, percussion
Lawrence Feldman - alto flute



 

Friday, July 23, 2021

Michael Marcus / Joe McPhee / Jay Rosen / Warren Smith - Blue Reality Quartet! (July 23, 2021 Mahakala Music)

In 2018, jazz musician extraordinaire Michael Marcus got an invite to bring his duo with drummer Jay Rosen to the Austrian venue Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf. And when he arrived, the promoter of their show sprung a novel idea on them: performing their set with fellow reedsman Joe McPhee and another drummer. “It was a great concept,” Marcus remembers. “And the chemistry was really good.” So much so that Marcus wanted to capture the sound of this unusual group—two horns and two percussionists improvising without a bass player or a piano or any other chordal instruments—on record. But with the drummer they played with in Austria unavailable to travel, Marcus, Rosen, and McPhee called on their friend and collaborator Warren Smith. And the Blue Reality Quartet was born.

The name of this project has a little history behind it and multiple layers of meaning. 20 years ago, Marcus and Rosen recorded an album called Blue Reality as part of a trio with bassist Tarus Matteen. It was another one of those magical sessions with the right mix of players and energy that Marcus always wanted to revisit. But with Mateen busy working alongside pianist Jason Moran, that reunion has been put on the back burner. At the same time, Marcus wanted to use the name of this group to acknowledge the time and circumstances in which the album was recorded. As the front cover should tell you - pictures of each player, their faces covered by a mask, the four men met up in a New York studio in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic.

So Blue Reality is a nod to a terrible time in our collective history that had an incalculable impact on the music industry and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people worldwide. To hear Marcus tell it, the chemistry that this group had was so potent that they’re all ready to get back together for another hit. “I think there’s a real mutual love within the group,” he says. “I think there’s a real potential there. It’s really special and really unique and I don’t think there’s anything quite like it out there.” We couldn’t agree more. 
1. Love Exists Everywhere
2. Chartreuse Tulips
3. Joe's Train
4. Coney Island Funk
5. Bluer Than Blue
6. East Side Dilemma
7. Warren's Theme

Michael Marcus – Woodwinds
Joe McPhee – Woodwinds
Jay Rosen – Percussion
Warren Smith – Percussion

Thursday, October 11, 2018

David S. Ware Trio - The Balance (Vision Festival XV +) November 9, 2018


"The Balance" is the fourth edition in the DSW-ARC Series; it presents an outstanding and incendiary David S. Ware concert, in trio with William Parker and Warren Smith. A tenor sax / bass / drums excursion displaying full vitality from the first note, this suite of spontaneous form was created at NYC’s Vision Festival in 2010. Ware had been a perennial at this vital annual gathering since its beginning; this was his first time back since the revered Quartet bid farewell there in 2006 [hear "Renunciation"], and it was an exhilarating return. 

This DSW Trio convened only three times over their 10 month existence: the Dec. 2009 studio session for "Onecept", =this= June concert, and the Oct. 2010 album release celebration at the Blue Note in NYC [documented on "Live In New York, 2010"]. 

Also included here are four out-takes from the "Onecept" session – all of which had been completed & considered for inclusion at that time. The three releases together present the =total work= which this group created. 

Each of their three communions has its own flavor: Onecept deals exquisitely with s p a c e and features David on three different horns (tenor, stritch, saxello), with Warren Smith on tympanis/percussion in addition to drum set. The night at the Blue Note features the most extensive documentation of Ware on alto sax in existence (a straight version; the stritch), with the Mid & Far-Eastern tones he brought forth on the instrument blossoming beautifully over the course of two sets in an intimate setting. =This= festival stage concert is premier 21st Century free jazz rendered with the virtuosity and lucidity that only Ware (with his esteemed peers) could provide. An utterly complete treat. 

CD is packaged in a very limited edition deluxe 6-panel digipak, with liner notes by Ware’s long-time producer, photographs from the concert, and the vivid witness painting on the cover, which was made during this performance. 

David S. Ware: tenor saxophone, saxello (on 5, 6)
William Parker: bass
Warren Smith: drums, tympanis/percussion (on 5, 6, 7)

All compositions by David S. Ware,
with William Parker & Warren Smith;
© Gandharvasphere/Daswa (ASCAP)

Vision Festival XV performance recorded by Stefan Heger
at Abrons Art Center, NYC on June 27, 2010

Tracks 4–7 recorded by Michael Marciano
at Systems Two Studios, Brooklyn on December 2, 2009

Mixed with & mastered by Michael Marciano at Systems Two

Produced by Steven Joerg

Cover art: Painting by Jeff Schlanger, musicWitness®
made during this VF XV performance.

1. Vision Suite 2010 - part 1
2. Vision Suite 2010 - part 2
3. Vision Suite 2010 - part 3
4. Kama
5. Virtue
6. Bodhisattva
7. Gnavah

Monday, September 11, 2017

Andrew Lamb / Warren Smith / Arkadijus Gotesmanas -The Sea of Modicum (NoBusiness Records September 2017)



Andrew Lamb a.k.a The Black Lamb - tenor saxophone
Warren Smith - percussion
Arkadijus Gotesmanas - percussion

SIDE A 
THE SEA OF MODICUM

SIDE B
KINDRED SPIRITS
TO THE ANGEL OF LITHUANIA

Recorded live on the 15th October 2016 at Vilnius Jazz Festival by Valdas Karpuška
Music by Andrew Lamb
Mixed and mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios
Design by Oskaras Anosovas
Produced by Danas Mikailionis
Co-producer - Valerij Anosov