Wadada Leo Smith - String Quartets Nos. 1-12 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

(5-CD set) The Emerald Duets is a crowning achievement among Wadada Leo Smith's many recorded duo collaborations with drummers/percussionists that have previously featured such creative giants as Ed Blackwell, Jack DeJohnette, Milford Graves (TUM BOX 003), Louis Moholo-Moholo (TUM CD 029) and Gnter Sommer, among others. The Emerald Duets features four master drummers who have each, in their own unique fashion, contributed to the way modern drumming has developed in the past six decades and how it is now perceived. Pheeroan akLaff, Andrew Cyrille and Han Bennink are each featured on one disc and Jack DeJohnette on two discs, including Smith's five-part composition InchParadise The Gardens and FountainsInch that fills the fifth disc of this boxed set in it's entirety. The sessions with akLaff, Cyrille and DeJohnette mostly feature compositions by Wadada Leo Smith, including three very different versions of Smith's powerful statement for the protection of freedom and democracy, InchThe Patriot Act, Unconstitutional and a Force that Destroys Democracy.Inch The session with Bennink includes a combination of Smith's compositions and collectively created tracks. Album Tracks 1. Litanies, Prayers and Meditations 2. The Prayer (For Keith Jarrett) 3. First Meditation from the Heart The Beauty, the Beloved 4. The Uyghur in Xinjiang, China 5. A Sonic Expression (Wadada Leo Smith) 6. Part 1 7. Part 2 8. Part 3 9. Part 4 10. A Sonic Litany on Peace 11. The Patriot Act, Unconstitutional and a Force That Destroys Democracy 12. A Sonic Litany on Justice 13. Second Meditation from the Heart The Beloved, the Beauty 14. Havana, Cuba 15. The Patriot Act, Unconstitutional and a Force That Destroys Democracy 16. Havana, the Maghrib Prayer and Reflections 17. Ilhan Omar 18. Mongezi Feza 19. Jeanne Lee In a Jupiter Mood 20. Donald Ayler The Ma

(4-CD box set) The Chicago Symphonies is a magnificent four-CD boxed set by Wadada Leo Smith's Great Lakes Quartet. Each disc includes one of the four symphonies composed by Wadada Leo Smith for this quartet. The first three symphonies, InchGold Symphony,Inch InchDiamond SymphonyInch and InchPearl Symphony,Inch are performed by Wadada Leo Smith with saxophonist/flutist Henry Threadill, bassist John Lindberg and drummer Jack DeJohnette whereas the fourth, InchSapphire Symphony - The Presidents and Their Visions of America,Inch features Smith with saxophonist Jonathon Haffner, Lindberg and DeJohnette. The idea of a symphony composed for a quartet was first presented by Don Cherry on his classic recording Symphony For Improvisers in 1966 but Wadada Leo Smith has brought this idea to the present day and broadened it to include social and political into the creative space. The Chicago Symphonies celebrate the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the historical development of creative music in Chicago starting with Louis Armstrong and through Sun Ra onto the AACM as well as, in the case of InchSapphire Symphony,Inch Abraham Lincoln and Baraka Hussein Obama Album Tracks 1. Gold Symphony - No.1 2. Diamond Symphony - No.2 3. Pearl Symphony - No.3 4. Sapphire Symphony - No.4

Album Tracks 1. Allegro Non Troppo 2. Andante Con Moto 3. Menuetto - Allegro 4. Allegro Vivace 5. Allegro 6. Larghetto 7. Menuetto Moderato 8. Allegro Assai 9. Allegro 10. Andante 11. Presto 1. Allegro Moderate 2. Andante 3. Menuetto Allegretto 4. Allegretto Ma Non Troppo 5. Allegro Vivace Assai 6. Menuetto Allegro 7. Andante Cantabile 8. Molto Allegro 9. Adagio; Allegro Assai 10. Menuetto 11. Andante 12. Allegro Assai 1. Allegretto 2. Menuetto Allegretto 3. Adagio 4. (Molto) Allegro 5. Andante 6. Allegro 7. Rondo Allegro 8. Allegretto 9. Andante 10. Menuetto Allegro 11. Allegretto