Bouquets for the Living: In Praise of Warren Smith

[Bill Barton]

The passing of Max Roach has hit me hard, as it has many on this board. When I started reflecting on the times I had the honor of hearing Mr. Roach in live performance - with his quartet, the double quartet and M'Boom - memories of the latter were particularly vivid.

One of the founding members of M'Boom is the remarkable percussionist Warren Smith. I had the pleasure of hearing him in a wide variety of musical contexts in the 1970s and early 1980s at Dartmouth College. He was a participant in Bill Cole's "Cycles" series and years later I was in the audience when Cole's Untempered Ensemble performed Seasoning the Greens at the Flynn Theatre Performace Space in Burlington, VT (recorded for Boxholder.)

The new CD Natural Cultural Forces with JC regular Mark Taylor, tenor saxophonist Andrew Lamb and bassist Tom Abbs, is getting repeated spins as I write this.

It's a time-worn cliché that a musician in the jazz/creative improvised music world "deserves further recognition," but it's a cliché for good reason. Mr. Smith is a master. Let's appreciate his contributions to the music now, not later.

I'd be very interested in reactions, responses, personal remembrances, thoughts and opinions, particularly from percussionists and other musicians who have appreciated his many contributions and/or played with him.

Bright Moments!

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[clinthopson]

Warren is the drummer in my son's "Biggish Band." He is a phenomenal musician.

I had a chance to hang out with him at the Lincoln Center gig. He a very sweet guy and a pretty fine vibes player to boot.

[Gary Sisco]

Warren Smith is one of jazz's unacknowledged greats. A great drummer, percussionist, and vibes player. And a hell of a nice, open, approachable cat.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

I love his music, and Stefan looks up to him for his drumming and his vibes playing. Met him at CBGB a couple of years ago.

[Frisco]

Thank You Bill! I was thinking about Warren a couple of weeks ago while I was playing "Natural and Cultural Forces" as well. My thoughts also about paying him tribute on the air. In fact, after playing the new one, I called a friend of mine to ask him if he had the "Cats are Stealing My Shit" cd, as I don;t have that one.

I had the pleasure to have Warren in to play in Detroit on a couple of occasions. The music was extraordinary and Warren and Andrew Lamb were both just great people to hang out with. We had a ball before, during, and after the sets. Warren spoke a lot of Max and of Roy Brooks who was still alive and jailed at the time.

Thanks again for calling attention to him!