Of course, you can’t expect an 82-year-old trumpeter to set his audience ablaze with explosive charges. From Wadada Leo Smith, we should rather expect wise and circumspect playing, which in no way excludes the welcome of inspiration in real time… and even some unsuspected fireworks.
In a room filled to capacity, early adopters of the FLUX festival were treated to a sober fifty-minute performance, including a few ad lib speeches by our host on the background to this duo and the meaning of life in general. While we’re at it!
In an interview a few days ago, the venerable African-American musician promised to recreate a recording he made in tandem with African-American pianist Claudine Myers, entitled Central Park Mosaiks of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens, inspired by his contemplative experiences in this vast urban park completed in 1873 under the guidance of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted – the same man who created Montreal’s Mount Royal Park (1876), also one of the most beautiful on the North American continent.
It was a courteous, polite and relatively brief conversation between Wadada Leo Smith and his interlocutor, the Swiss Sylvie Courvoisier.
As for the lead soloist, which is what we were there for, he’s still capable of achieving beauty, no doubt. Yes, it’s difficult to determine clearly whether his long-held notes break unintentionally or are a deliberately executed stylistic effect, but hey… the overall impression of this discourse remains interesting, and you have to react spontaneously to this approach, which obeys no law about the best way to play the trumpet according to classical or jazz criteria.As for the lead soloist, which is what we were there for, he’s still capable of achieving beauty, no doubt. Yes, it’s difficult to determine clearly whether his long-held notes break unintentionally or are a deliberately executed stylistic effect, but hey… the overall impression of this discourse remains interesting, and you have to react spontaneously to this approach, which obeys no law about the best way to play the trumpet according to classical or jazz criteria.
Wadada Leo Smith’s discourse is certainly his own: the venerable blower still has the ability to powerfully access high frequencies and other relatively demanding technical effects. The musician’s vast experience more than compensates for his barely begun technical decline.
In this subtle and delicate context, Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier found herself playing the other half of the tandem. She opted for a minimalist accompaniment, respectful of her elder’s playing. Clearly, this was not an opportunity for her to display the articulation of which she is capable. Rather, the slow pace of the tandem performance led this excellent musician to the exposition of chords complementary to Wadada’s melodic discourse, but also to the production of brilliant effects via plucked notes on the strings – of that rather thankless instrument, the piano at the Sala Rossa. Nevertheless, we were able to observe all the subtlety of the musician, an expert in the art of the prepared piano and its use in real time.
We’d have taken more, but hey… let’s be polite to an octogenarian who’s decided that’s the way it’s going to be.We’d have taken more, but hey… let’s be polite to an octogenarian who’s decided that’s the way it’s going to be.
