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Life & Arts

Quartet offers stunning jazz

by RUTHIE RODRIGUEZ
THE DAILY COUGAR 

Seating was scarce as long-time fans and new comers alike gathered for Nameless Sound's presentation of Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet Saturday night at Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, 2201 Preston.

The legendary master trumpet player, composer and educator, Wadada Leo Smith, at 65 proved that age has only ripened his keen sense of creative music and impeccable skills on trumpet. 

After 53 years of playing trumpet Smith says, "The chops still feel good." In Saturday night's performance Smith successfully showcased just how good his "chops" were. 

Smith encompassed a diverse range of music styles which he developed after years of immersing himself in various music forms, including avant-garde jazz, blues, free improvisation and world music forms of African, Japanese, Indonesian and European.

Each note emanating from his trumpet was a testament in itself to Smith's level of sheer artistry when mastering the instrument. 

Smith's performance stood out with his strong, distinct trumpet tone and astonishing range which peaked during his splurges of high-pitched notes. The deeper bluesy notes were inseparable from Smith as he highlighted the richer sounds of the trumpet. 

Smith utilized a host of expression, wa-wa and digital reverb pedals to manipulate and focus on each sound of the trumpet. 

The Golden Quartet featured other high-caliber artists to include percussionist Famoudou Don Moye, bassist, John Lindberg and guitarist Woody Aplanalp. 

Weaving in and out of improvised, composed, high-energy and laid-back segments the quartet delivered a cohesive sound of creative jazz infested music. 

Ankhrasmation is a graphic notation system Smith uses as the make-up of his composed works. His composition theory focuses on symbols rather than notes that enable each piece to be different each time it's performed. 

Moye, co-founder and artistic director of the Art Ensemble of Chicago Education Foundation, provided a flawless percussion performance. Moye served an essential role with his utmost awareness of each member while executing soft syncopated rhythms for the steady progression of each piece. One of his solo parts yielded unfaltering all-out drumming with a relentless ending drenched in jazzy overtones. 

Veteran bass virtuoso, Lindberg, weaved in and out of some pieces by stringing his bow along the heavy strings and manipulating the sound of the notes with a whammy pedal for a more laid-back role, while in other pieces he maintained light, groovy bass-lines which the other members topped with melodic solos. 

Up-and-coming musician, Aplanalp, from Los Angeles, delivered jazzy riffs on hollow-body guitar, but for the most part utilized pedals and the manipulation of high-pitched vibrato-heavy notes. 

Smith occasionally cued his fellow musicians when he wanted more energy from them or a distinct rhythm for the quartet to thrive off of. 

Smith believes musicians should articulate ideas rather than using techniques as a crutch when playing an instrument, "Express who you are through that technique. You have to be able to express yourself when making art," he said.

The Golden Quartet performed as a single-entity, as each member was equally committed to the creative process of each piece.

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