Inspired by the civil rights movement and the iconic Rosa Parks, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's album pays tribute through impressive compositional skills that merge work with RedKoral Quartet, Blue Trumpet Quartet, Diamond Voices, and Janus duo, featuring excerpts from Anthony Braxton, Steve McCall, Leroy Jenkins, and words from Martin Luther King Jr and a text by Rosa Parks.
Label: Tum Catalog ID: TUM 57 Squidco Product Code: 26650
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2018 Country: Finland Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel w/ booklet Recorded at Sear Sound Studios in New York City, New York, on September 25th, 2016, and on May 24th and 25th, 2017, by Robert Musso and Owen Mulholand.
2. Rosa Parks_ Mercy, Music For Double Quartet 5:42
3. Song 1_ The Montgomery Bus Boycott - 381 Days Of Fire / Song 2_ The First Light, Gold 14:16
4. Vision Dance 2_ Defiance, Justice And Liberation 5:19
5. Song 3_ Change It! / Song 4_ The Truth / Song 5_ No Fear 13:01
6. Vision Dance 3_ Rosa's Blue Lake / Song 6_ The Second Light / Vision Dance 4_ A Blue Casa 15:25
7. Song 7_ Pure Love / The Known World_ Apartheid / Postilude_ Victory! 13:27
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descriptions, reviews, &c.
"Wadada Leo Smith's latest album features "Rosa Parks: Pure Love. An Oratorio of Seven Songs,"another extended composition by Smith inspired by the civil rights movement in the United States. This new major work is composed for the iconic civil rights hero Rosa Parks (1913-2005) and performed by three vocalists, a double-quartet and a drummer with electronics. The album is released in February 2019 to celebrate Rosa Parks' birthday on February 4."-TUM
"The last several years have seen Wadada Leo Smith create albums that have given tribute to Thelonious Monk, National Parks, rivers and lakes. They've been unified in that they had the trumpet player in a single musical milieu, be it small group, orchestra or even solo. This time around the man with the golden tone, Smith gives a rich tribute to civil rights legend Rosa Parks, and mixes and matches with the stringed RedKoral Quartet (Shalini Vijayan, Mona Tian, Andrew McInstosh, Ashley Walters) , the Blue Trumpet Quartet (having Smith with Ted Daniel Hugh Ragin and Graham Haynes), the Diamond Voices (Min Ziao-Fen, Carmina Escobar, Karen Parks) and the Janus duo with some electronics (via Hardedge) and a drum-set provided by Pheeroan akLaff. There's also a promised video during the concert performances, and as one who's seen Smith in concert, he fulfills his promises!
In addition, musical excerpts from recordings by Anthony Braxton, Steve McCall, Leroy Jenkins and even Smith himelf are sliced into various moments. Singing recitatives of words from Martin Luther King Jr and a text by Rosa Parks are delivered by Escobar and Parks as well. The music itself ranges from a collision of strings and brass on "Journey" to rich Barberesque bows and edgy Bartok harmonics. Combinations like Vijayan's violin with the rich trumpets make for rich textures. Smith's horn is crystal clear and passionate with Drum-Set on "The Known World:Apartheid" and his duet with Haynes teamed with the BlueTrumpet Quartet juxtaposed with RedKoral is a tapestry of pathos. Smith uses his horn like a giant paintbrush with our ears as his canvas."=George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly