Trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith has made some creative albums dedicated to various subjects ranging from the Nile River, to the Great Lakes to even our great country itself. This time around, he directs a quintet with Anthony Davis/p, Ashley Walters/cel, John Lindberg/b and Pheeroan akLaff/dr through two discs worth of music devoted to our National Parks. You’re not going to get Appalachian Spring, but the six pieces do create intriguing moods that at times feel like sunrises at a campsite or a foreboding and stark switchback of hiking trails.
Switching at the drop of a leaf between open horn and harmon mute, Smith is always clear and warm, even when growling and sputtering during the semi-free”Sequoia/Kings Canyon.” Davis is expansive and ripples like a lily pad ans bass and drum plod along the delta during ”New Orleans” The National Culture P ark,” wihle akLaff gets some space for expression between Smith’s sighs on “Yosemite.” Davis and Walters create a delicate mix along with Lindberg’s pizzicato contempmlations on “Eileen Jackson Southern” and undulate up to brimming over the levee on “ The issisippi River.”
There is also credit given to video artist Jesse Gilbert, and if you’ve ever seen Smith in concert, you know that there are visuals involved to help absorb the music in a wholistic atmosphere. Free and loose, but accessible and thoughtful.
Cunieform Records.