Bill Laswell Archive

Wadada Leo Smith – Najwa – TUM 

by Audiophile Audition | Nov 27, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Wadada Leo Smith – Najwa – TUM CD 049, 55:43 [10/20/17] ****: An electrifying tribute project. (Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet; Adam Rudolph – percussion; Pheeroan akLaff – drums; Bill Laswell – electric bass, mixing; Michael Gregory Jackson, Henry Kaiser, Brandon Ross, Lamar Smith – guitar) Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is no stranger to going electric. He used the power of being plugged in with his Miles Davis-centric Yo Miles! band (two CDs celebrating Davis’ music featuring guitarist Henry Kaiser), and the multi-guitar group Organic (with contributions from guitarists Michael Gregory Jackson, Brandon Ross and Lamar Smith, Smith’s grandson). Smith has returned to the amplified, guitar-inclined format with the hour-long, five-track album Najwa (an Arabic word translated as passionate, secret or whisper). Smith is joined by all of the above-listed guitarists plus percussionist Adam Rudolph, drummer Pheeroan akLaff (he had a longstanding association with Oliver Lake and was a member of Smith’s New Dalta Ahkri ensemble and Smith’s Golden Quartet), and electric bassist Bill Laswell (who also provides post-production expertise). Najwa is a many-layered conceptual work. Three of Smith’s four lengthy compositions (only one is under 10 minutes) are tributes to past artists of creative jazz and/or blues. The first […]