Michael Smith/Composer,Improviser,Pianist

[Jesse]

Michael Smith is a genuinely enigmatic composer, improviser, pianist I was turned on to in the '80's. I own some of his work on vinyl. I am recently relistening, wondering where he is (what realm), and if JC posters know his Geomusic concept of music. (He came up with the Geomusic deal, I haven't found any manifestos or papers on this concept).
I have the following; if anyone knows anything about his current status, or will post responses to his music, I'd be grateful.

Solo piano: The Dualities Of Man Horo 1977

Duets: Sidelines (with Lacy) IAI

La Musique Blanche (with Kent Carter )
Le Chant De Monde 1975

Elvira Madigan (with Knut Risnaises)

BTW: I used several search engines & key words, searching the usual avant music sites & beyond. Besides the random discography, all I found that wasn't referencing labels/recordings was an appearance at a music festival in '04, I think in Belgium. He is/was married to a pop star from China (!).

His piano playing, imo, is astonishing-deeply exploratory, extending to all aspects of the instrument, in some regards utterly unique: if I were forced to compare his sound to someone to convey something to the uninitiated, I would mention (in improvised music) Ran Blake, maybe even darker, more melancholic. Startling interpolations of silence & intense clusters, beautiful melodic ideas, brooding passages of dark chording & slowly decaying single notes, silences...

[Jesse]

It's only been 1/2 a day, but I hope someone is on to this guy & posts. This is an enthusiasm a little too esoteric. A pleasure unshared. Oddly, I have ony known one person who knew his work, himself an improvising musician working for years in obscurity.
Walto? Nate? Brian? Derek?.......

[Brian Olewnick]

Jesse, Yeah, I have Smith's 'Geomusic' on the Polish Muxa label and his 'Austin Stream' on FMP. My recollection (haven't played them in a while) is that I prefer the former. Paul Larsen (who occasionally posts here as rinkydinkus) is a big fan and was the guy who turned me on to him--I'll try to let him know about this thread. Don't know much more about him myself except that he was a rather devilish looking guy; the cover of "Geomusic" is pretty funny in a psychedelic 70s kinda way.

[Jesse]

Thanks, Brian.
For whatever reason, Austin Streams is familiar to me as a title, but I didn't know he'd recorded on fmp.


Rinkydinkus....?

[Brian Olewnick]

I think it's the SAJ aspect of FMP. I'll check when I get home.

'Austin Streams', as an individual piece, was apparently recorded on that duo disc with Lacy.

[Jesse]

That's what....thanks again.

[Brian Olewnick]

Details on those two Smith albums I have:

Geomusic
Muxa, SX 1476
October, 1976. Warsaw

Michael Smith - Piano
Laurence Cook - Alto
Kent Carter - Bass, cello
Claude Canille Bernard - Drums
Jacek Bednarek - Bass
Zbigniew Namyslowski - Alto, Cello

Austin Stream
FMP, SAJ-009
November, 1976. Berlin (TMM)

Michael Smith - Piano
Laurence Cook - Alto
Kent Carter - Bass
Claude Canille Bernard - Drums

I'll try to give them a listen soon (can't now--Yanks coming up!) and report back.

[rinkedinkus]

ok yall-here i is. there's also "reflections on progress" with bernard/carter/ivan krillzarin(sp?); "totality" on red (solo), and now we move to two rather forgettable ventures. "all our steps" w/jonas hellborg (as a bassist myself i say YUK!) and michael shreive. no idea what mjs was trying to achieve here. there's "moments", another solo venture on ccri that just sits there. remember, though, that on braxton's "dona lee" on futura, mjs is on piano. he also appears on lacy's "scraps" w/in the three-disc saravah reissue of 6 terminally unavailable lacy albums. there's more info on the back of "moments including a number of things i've never heard. generally i love his work but haven't heard a peep from him in years. more info to follow........
rinkedinkus

[Jesse]

Brian & Paul:
Thanks for checking. Paul, you have a pm. I am indeed interested in any of your reflections on Smith's sound on the piano.

David, I hope you find more Smith to listen to. Imo, Elvira Madigan suffers from too much material and an ineffectual Risnasses. Dualities is a great solo document.

I forgot I have Scraps (!), and will give it a spin now. This is: Lacy/Potts/Aebi/Tyler/Smith/Carter/Johnson. Rec: Paris, 1974, and includes the Lacy tune that christens that fucking magazine.

[rinkedinkus]

since he usually plays a bosendorfer (i think), the most formidable form of the instrument, his tone is always full and deep. i also enjoy his use of space-he seems to follow no one except himself, so no comparisons exist. in a nutshell-when he's "on" as in austin stream, Dualities, reflections on progress, geomusic III PL, geomusic and totality, his use of pedals and sustain put him in a class by himself. his intense melodicism and use of space truly leave the listener uncertain of his next move unlike the more percussive pianists like cecil, crispell, etc. i think it's safe to say that he falls into an intense "love or hate" category.
after years of studying taylor's work, it's become clear that smith was an integral stepping stone into cecil's incredible pianism. when i listen to smith now, having irrevocably turned the corner into being a free improvisor, it isn't so much that i find smith's work lacking, but moreso do i find it a backward step that has lost a bit of its allure. as a bassist, i find myself concentrating on carter's playing as he has never been anything but inspirational. the same goes for jacek bednarek who i adore.
i would however wholeheartedly invite everyone here to investigate smith-minus the less-than-successful endeavors i listed in my first post. he truly walks his own path.
pcl

[Jesse]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by rinkedinkus

i also enjoy his use of space-he seems to follow no one except himself, so no comparisons exist.
his use of pedals and sustain put him in a class by himself. his intense melodicism and use of space truly leave the listener uncertain of his next move unlike the more percussive pianists like cecil, crispell, etc.

That's an apt description of a sense of suspense/tension Smith creates...

smith was an integral stepping stone into cecil's incredible pianism.

How so? Are you referring to a personal leap from Smith to Taylor? An aesthetic link?

as a bassist, i find myself concentrating on carter's playing as he has never been anything but inspirational. the same goes for jacek bednarek who i adore.

I have consistently placed Carter in my top several favorite bassists. I had the good fortune to see/hear him here twice in the 80's. He is a cosummate bassist, whatever the context. Have you heard his trio with Togashi & Lacy on Paddlewheel?

he truly walks his own path.

More than many-just try finding information on this cat!

Thanks for your responses,

Jesse

[rinkedinkus]

i would have to say that the link from smith to taylor is based on two things-the piano they both prefer, with its extended range and peerless sonority; and that each man stands alone in terms of consistency of musical statement. in the same way that a few of smith's recordings fall short, so too do a few of cecil's works such as live in bologna and live in vienna. both sound too unrehearsed to be placed among such milestones as dark to themselves or the berlin solo version of corona.
pcl

[Brian Olewnick]

Finally got around to putting on 'Geomusic' this morning. My first impression, especially of the track "Qui s'Excuse s'Accuse", not having listened to it for at least a couple of years, is how much it sounds like Cecil's groups from the early 60s, somewhere between the New York R 'n' B sessions and 'Nefertiti...". Not that Smith's playing itself is so Taylor-derived (though, like most every other pianist of his generation and inclination, the influence is certainly there), but more the way the group as a whole interacts. It sounds good, though, very fresh. The piece, "Time II (Geomusic 3.700)" is much more reminiscent of Braxton's dirges from around the same period (ie, the last track on 'New York, Fall, 1974') and also of similar, "cloudy" pieces by Bley and Mantler, although the melody line is much more lyrically Romantic.

It's good stuff, well worth hearing. I note that it was recorded in October, '76, right when I moved to NYC and began working at Environ. This music would have fit right in with much of the more solid music being played in the lofts at the time.

[newmusicbass]

i have not found smith so interesting, not nearly as interesting as some of the pianists on those strange solo piano lps on fmp (elmar kralling, urs volker, martin theuer etc.), however as has been pointed out, up until hellborg he had fantastic taste in bass players. carter is amazing. to my ear he has the best ratio of fat, big pizz sound to a pure tone with good intonation arco.
jacek bednarek is extremely creative, and has a virtuosity that is only barely common now.
i have austin stream, the geo music lp mentioned before, plus another lp with the austin stream group minus the alto and plus ivan krillzillian percussion, on storyville also called "reflection on progress".
i have found and other michael smith lp with bednarek and the alto player from the polish geo music, but it has not arrived.
laurnece cook is actually the drummer on geo music (he made some nice albums with bill dixon) and claude bernard is the other saxophonist.
other lps i have with bednarek:
"good old circus" large band: malfatti, sommer, moholo, oxley on violin (!), breuker manglesdorf etc. on saj
"inside outside" a fantastic trio with lovens and diter scherf
and "walking color" duo with a flute player.
he was such an incredible unknown force. another bassist from this time worth mentioning is the east german klaus koch, total virtuoso like carter and bednarek.

damon smith

[newmusicbass]

i found a trio lp on ebay, blank white cover with insert, call geo music again. just a trio of smith, bednareck and namyslowski. great music, and smith is amazing on it as well. it is a shame bednarek did not get more due. does anyone have more information on him? i heard he was dead.
damon