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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Wadada Leo Smith| image = Wadada Leo Smith.jpg| caption = Photo by Tom Beetz| image_size =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name =| alias =| birth_date = birth date and age|mf=yes|1941|12|18| death_date =| origin = Leland, Mississippi | instrument = Trumpet , flugelhorn , koto (musical instrument)|koto , kalimba , atenteben | genre = Avant-garde jazz , free improvisation | occupation = Trumpeter , composer | years_active =| label =| associated_acts = Creative Construction Company , New Dalta Ahkri | website = http://adagio.calarts.edu/~wls/ Homepage| current_members =| past_members =| notable_instruments = Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born 18 December 1941) is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation .Allmusic|class=artist|id=wadada-leo-smith-p9698/biography|pure_url=yes Allmusic biography
Biography
Smith was born in Leland, Mississippi . He started out playing drums, mellophone , and French horn before he settled on the trumpet. He played in various R& B groups and by 1967 became a member of the AACM and co-founded the Creative Construction Company , a trio with Leroy Jenkins (jazz musician)|Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton . In 1971, Smith formed his own label, Kabell . He also formed another band, the New Dalta Ahkri , with members including Henry Threadgill , Anthony Davis (composer)|Anthony Davis and Oliver Lake .
In the 1970s, Smith studied ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University . He played again with Anthony Braxton as well as recording with Derek Bailey (guitarist)|Derek Bailey 's Company (free improvisation group)|Company . In the mid-1980s, Smith became Rastafari movement|Rastafarian and began using the name Wadada. In 1993, he began teaching at California Institute of the Arts|Cal Arts , a position he currently holds. In addition to trumpet and flugelhorn, Smith plays several world music instruments, including the koto (musical instrument)|koto , kalimba , and atenteben (Ghanaian bamboo flute). He has also taught courses in instrument making. His compositions often use a graphic notation system he calls "Ankhrasmation," which he developed in 1970.
In 1998, Smith and guitarist Henry Kaiser (musician)|Henry Kaiser released Yo, Miles! a tribute to Miles Davis 's lesser-known 1970s Miles Davis#Electric Miles (1968–75)|electric period . On this album, Smith, Kaiser and a large cast of musicians recorded cover versions and original compositions inspired by Miles's electric music. The follow-ups Sky Garden (released by Cuneiform Records|Cuneiform in 2004) and Upriver (released in 2005) were recorded with a different cast of musicians. Both line-ups featured Michael Manring on bass.
Smith's Golden Quartet (with whom he's released two albums) features Jack DeJohnette on drums, Anthony Davis (composer)|Anthony Davis on keyboards, and Malachi Favors on bass. During the 2000s, Smith recorded albums for John Zorn 's Tzadik (record label)|Tzadik , as well as Pi Recordings . In 2008, he and his Golden Quartet released a DVD entitled Freedom Now .
Discography
As leader
1972: Creative Music - 1 (Kabell)
1974: Reflectativity (Kabell)
1976: Song of Humanity (Kabell)
1978: Divine Love (album)|Divine Love ( ECM Records|ECM )
1978: Mass on the World ( Moers Records|Moers )
1979: Budding of a Rose (Moers)
1980: Go in Numbers ( Black Saint/Soul Note|Black Saint )
1980: Spirit Catcher ( Nessa Records|Nessa )
1981: Akhreanvention (Kabell)
1982: Human Rights (Kabell)
1983: Procession of the Great Ancestry (Nessa)
1983: Rastafari (Boxholder)
1985: If You Want the Kernels, You Have to Break the Shells ( FMP Records|FMP )
http://artofthestates.org/cgi-bin/composer.pl? comp=38 Art of the States: Wadada Leo Smith Bardsdale (1997–1998)
http://pirecordings.com/audio/Tawaf.m3u Tawaf from 2003's "Organic Resonance" on Pi Recordings
http://www.soundnet.org/concerts/mov_refs/2000.shtml#horns Solo performance July 2000 at SASSAS sound. concert archives
Persondata | NAME = Smith, Wadada Leo | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 18 December 1941 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wadada Leo Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:People from Washington County, Mississippi Category:American jazz composers Category:American jazz flugelhornists Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American Rastafarians Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians Category:Converts to the Rastafari movement Category:Koto players Category:American music educators Category:Musicians from Mississippi Category:Nessa Records artists Category:Pi Recordings artists Category:Tzadik Records artists Category:Wesleyan University alumni
