May 16, 2024
Central Park's Mosaics Of Reservoir, Lake, Paths And Gardens - Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers
Label: Red Hook Records (on Bandcamp)
Catalog #: RH1005
Location: Bantry, Ireland
Release Date: May 10, 2024
Media: compact disc or digital download
bandcamp.com entry
discogs.com entry
Central Park's Mosaics Of Reservoir, Lake, Paths And Gardens is billed as the first recorded collaboration between trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist/organist Amina Claudine Myers. As members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since the 1960's, we found this claim dubious. Both have collaborated with so many like-minded AACM musicians, it seemed unlikely that the crossing of their paths had not been recorded. It turns out the only other recording that features them playing together, at least that we could find, is side B of Maurice McIntyre's Humility In The Light Of Creator (Delmark, 1969). As an aside, both Smith & Myers appear as guests on Jeanne Lee's Natural Affinities (Owl Records, 1992) but not on the same tracks. In any case, this duet is certainly without precedent.
Wadada Leo Smith has certainly paid tribute to Amina Claudine Myers, titling tracks in her name both on his solo trumpet box set Trumpet and on his Great Lakes Quartet box set The Chicago Symphonies, both released by TUM records in 2021. This collaboration then can be seen as a testament to his appreciation of her influence.
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House credit Smith with our fondness for trumpet/piano duets. It was A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (ECM Records, 2016), in which he joined pianist Vijay Iyer, that permanently opened our eyes to the possibilities of this pairing. Since that time, when we encounter trumpet/piano duets, we hear it through this lens. Central Park's Mosaics Of Reservoir, Lake, Paths And Gardens is musically dissimilar to a A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke but we hear in it the same plaintive trumpet inviting the keyboard accompaniment to expand into the silences between notes.
There are some elders of creative music of whom we never tire. For example, while each new record of French bassist, Joëlle Léandre, doesn't necessarily present new innovations in her bass playing, we continue to experience a thrill in hearing her play and interact with new partners in different ensembles. We feel the same way about Wadada Leo Smith. At more than eighty years old, the trumpet playing here is not of a kind unfamiliar to his listeners. It is the recognizable, soulful music that has become his calling card. At the same time, the collaboration with Myers allows us to hear their responses to each other in a way that presents his music in a new light. From the moment we learned of the existence of this record, we were excited to hear it. The actual music recorded on the vinyl fully lived up to our high expectations.
personnel:
- Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) (website)
- Amina Claudine Myers (piano, organ) (website)
