Leo Smith Kabell release on Tzadik

[Other Steve]

Just got the February new release book from Koch, which contains the complete details of the oft-discussed Leo Smith Kabell reissue project on Tzadik. Here's the skinny, taken verbatim from the label's own enthusiastic blurbage:

WADADA LEO SMITH
KABELL YEARS 1971-1979
TZA CD 7610
Key Series, $49.98

Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Davis, Wes Brown, Oliver Lake, Pheeroan ak Laff

disc one: Nine (9) Stones on a Mountain * Improvisation No. 4 * Crative Music - 1 * aFmie * Poem DancE 3 * Ogotommeli: Dogon Sage * Ep - 1 * Ngoma: Gravity and Lightwaves * Seeds * Zekr * Until the Fire

disc two: Reflectativity * t wmukl - D * North American Stomp * Visions * Transcendental Suite

disc three: Song of Humanity * Lexicon * Peacocks, Gazelles, Dogwood Trees & Six Silver Coins * Oh Blues and Dreams * Pneuma * Tempio * Play Ebony Play Ivory

disc four: Life Sequence 1 * Love Is a Rare Beauty: Movements 1-5 * Aura * Ankrasmation * Atoke * Fana ) The Zebra Goes Wild

From 1971-1979 Wadada Leo Smith released four albums on his own, privately pressed label Kabell. Under the supervision of the composer, this material has now been collected, remastered and coupled with over two hours of unreleased bonus tracks, including the second set of the influential Reflectativity concert and the legendary Mapenzi solo concert from 1976. Complete with a twentry-eight page booklet featuring sessions photos and tributes from musical associates such as George Lewis, Alvin Singleton, Larry Ochs, Anthony Davis, Bobby Naughton, Henry Kaiser and John Zorn, this is an essential collection from the peak period of one of Creative Music's most important composer/performers.

File Under: Jazz/Avant Garde

Street Date: February 24, 2004

[Jonny Miner]

Wow... Looks cool.

Could anyone who was around then talk about how available records like this were in the 70s? Did people sell them at performances? Were they only at cool record shops? Were they given the same attention as releases on labels like Arista, labels like India Naviagation, or less?

[Nick]

I can't wait for this one. It can be pre-ordered now at cduniverse for $37.79.

[Jon Abbey]

Jonny, you should find a copy of the first Rolling Stone Guide to Jazz, a thin yellow paperback. Bob Blumenthal wrote short bios and gave star rankings to whatever records were available at that time to a bunch of guys in the then avant-garde, Leo Smith among others, I first learned about guys like Smith, Braxton, Muhal, Threadgill and George Lewis in here, and labels like India Navigation, his star guides were pretty reliable.

[Jonny Miner]

Wow, thanks Jon! that's just the sort of thing I'm looking for! I'll keep an eye out.

[crawjo]

I saw this in the record store recently. Can anyone who has this give me a rundown? Is it worth it? I read Thom Jurek's glowing review on AMG, but I've found Jurek to be overly effusive in his praise of other albums in the past, so I don't want to use him as a barometer.

[Jason Bivins]

Crawjo, I just picked this up fairly recently (Sergio and I each scored copies on our record safari with Sisco) but I think it's pretty essential stuff. It's not hard-blowing by any stretch of the imagination, but incredibly thoughtful and passionate compositions (including two discs of solo Smith). I'm only on my second cup of coffee so I can't be much more detailed than that right now, but it's definitely worth it (and from what I can tell of your tastes, you'd enjoy it).

[Captain Hate]

Originally Posted by Jonny Miner

Could anyone who was around then talk about how available records like this were in the 70s? Did people sell them at performances? Were they only at cool record shops? Were they given the same attention as releases on labels like Arista, labels like India Naviagation, or less?

I found these in a record store that had a guy that was interested in music like this and would make enlightened orders. Of course he could only order so much of it because it wasn't in his interest to have things just sit on the shelves. Arista was a major label so you could find some of their Freedom releases in most stores; India Navigation had a much lower profile and the Kabell label was about as obscure as you could (barely) find.

[Brian Olewnick]

I have the Kabell "Reflectativity" release on vinyl and I'm pretty sure, like many similarly small labels, I picked it up through New Music Distribution Service, which distributed a ton of great small labels in the 70s. Fine recording, btw.

[Captain Hate]

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

I have the Kabell "Reflectativity" release on vinyl and I'm pretty sure, like many similarly small labels, I picked it up through New Music Distribution Service, which distributed a ton of great small labels in the 70s.

Most of the obscure stuff that I'd find at the store I frequented came from NMDS.

[frankiepop]

i still have one of the nmds catalogues...they wrote great 1 para descriptions...

[Sergio Zamora]

What the Biv said, except the coffee part. This is some beautiful shit, and it really demonstrates Smith's risk-taking (that he continues to this day). I also happen to really love Smith's sound on the trumpet, and he sounds awesome on these discs.

[crawjo]

Thanks guys. I've got some Borders gift cards coming my way next week, so I think I'm going to use those to get this.

[frankiepop]

What the Biv said, but only the coffee part...

i am also on my 2nd cup..

[crawjo]

Well, I did pick this up, and I've made it up to the second disc so far. I really love everything that I have heard this far. The first disc of solo performances was outstanding, and the second disc is equally stunning (Reflectativity in particular). This is just the sort of free jazz that I really dig. I haven't heard much by Anthony Davis before, but I like his playing a great deal. He's reminiscent of Taylor, though he doesn't have quite the touch on the keys that Taylor has.

[Other Steve]

I needs to score me a copy of this set.

In the mean time, I'm super excited about Wadada's upcoming gig at Tonic, part of Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell's trumpet shindig. He's playing with Tyondai Braxton and Ronald Shannon Jackson. Lots of room for fireworks in that lineup, I'd think.

[Dan G]

I'd say this is an essential set for anyone interested in avant garde music. Not sure I'd call it free jazz, as Crawjo does. I've never been a big fan of Smith, but tried for years. Prior to this, I had a few of his records (Rastafari, Divine Love, Go In Numbers,...) as well as having heard him with Braxton, but was never a big fan. I figured I'd spring for the box when I saw it cheap, and give him one last try. I love it, now have to go back and work on the other stuff.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by crawjo

I haven't heard much by Anthony Davis before, but I like his playing a great deal. He's reminiscent of Taylor, though he doesn't have quite the touch on the keys that Taylor has.

Really? I don't hear that at all.

[crawjo]

More Taylor circa early 1960s, the stuff he did on Candid. I'm listening to "Reflectativity" right now and I do hear similarities.

[Other Steve]

Originally Posted by Other Steve

In the mean time, I'm super excited about Wadada's upcoming gig at Tonic, part of Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell's trumpet shindig. He's playing with Tyondai Braxton and Ronald Shannon Jackson. Lots of room for fireworks in that lineup, I'd think.

Sadly, this appears to have been cancelled. The latest update from the FONT festival lists Ted Daniel and the International Brass and Membrane Corporation instead.

[chuckyd4]

So now that some of us may have had some time to digest this one, any thoughts on it? I am only on my first listen here, and so far only into disc 1, but I can say that I think this is a major set. I've been hit and miss on Smith in the past, but the first solo disc here (Creative Music) will be worth many, many listens into the future. So much to study, in his tone, use of space, percussive interruptions, etc. etc. So much so, that I almost don't want to move on to the group albums until I feel like I've fully digested his conception here.

I've had this for quite a while, but am just now getting around to it, as it's definitely not the kind of thing I can put on a lot while the girlfriend is around.

[efrendv]

Originally Posted by chuckyd4

So now that some of us may have had some time to digest this one, any thoughts on it? I am only on my first listen here, and so far only into disc 1, but I can say that I think this is a major set. I've been hit and miss on Smith in the past, but the first solo disc here (Creative Music) will be worth many, many listens into the future. So much to study, in his tone, use of space, percussive interruptions, etc. etc. So much so, that I almost don't want to move on to the group albums until I feel like I've fully digested his conception here.

Even the group recordings in there sound pretty sparse, with lots of silence as you mention, and little percussive drive. They're quite raw in general and have a chamberish feel. I think it's reasonable to compare some of the music contained in "The Kabell Years" with Braxton's "3 Compositions of New Jazz". That was probably the first reference that instantly came to mind and it still sticks after repeated listens.

Quite contrarily, I haven't had negative experiences with any of Smith's recordings so far. I find most of them to be homogeneously good, with some exceptions that border on boredom at some points (i.e: "Luminous Axis").

[Hot Ptah]

Originally Posted by Jonny Miner

Wow... Looks cool.

Could anyone who was around then talk about how available records like this were in the 70s? Did people sell them at performances? Were they only at cool record shops? Were they given the same attention as releases on labels like Arista, labels like India Naviagation, or less?

Mainstream record stores geared toward the rock audience probably stocked none of the three labels you mentioned. Arista Freedom was generally available in good record stores, those with a decent jazz section. India Navigation was available only in the stores that had a buyer that wanted to stock them. India Navigation was generally known to real jazz lovers. Kabell was virtually unknown even to the avant garde jazz fanatics. It would have been more or less luck if you stumbled upon a Kabell record.
I bought Leo Smith's "Reflectativity" at Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1979 or 1980. At that time Schoolkids was an avant garde jazz lovers' paradise. Someone like Andrew Cyrille had a big section at Schoolkids. As an example, across the street from Schoolkids were two record stores that were quite good but did not have the avant garde jazz emphasis. They would have stocked only Arista Freedom of the labels you've mentioned.

[craigz]

In the 70s, when I lived on Long Island, I used to take the train into Manhattan every few months to go to J&R Music World near city hall, which at the time had a completely separate jazz store. They stocked everything jazz, from Kabell to India Navigation to Black Saint to Moers imports to hatHut to hand-decorated Sun Ra records on Saturn. I would spend $100-150 and walk out of there with a stack of LPs five or six inches thick. It would take me a couple of hours just to unwrap and read my new albums. Man, those were the days.