Wadada Leo Smith - Amina Claudine Myers: Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens

Sacred music for what many consider a very sacred place, Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths, and Gardens unites two natural forces- -the trumpeted truth of Wadada Leo Smith and the open air church of pianist & organist Amina Claudine Myers—for their first collaboration since their early years as active members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Founded in 1965, in the heat of Chicago, by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall and composer Phil Cohran, the AACM not only inspired and nurtured Smith and Myers, but also gave rise to the fiery instincts and voices of Anthony Braxton, Jack DeJohnette, Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, to name just a few icons.

What Central Park's Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths, and Gardens proves, right from its very first resonate notes, is that Smith and Myers have lost none of their youthful vigor and creative vitality, and deserve to stand tall in the telling of the AACM's rich history as well as the history of 20th and 21st century music writ large. "Conservatory Gardens" sets the reflective tone as Myers seeks out and establishes her harmonic stance. Graceful with an undercurrent of zeal—for the moment, for the muse—Smith chimes in. His horn is clean. His sound rings beneath the great park's many underpasses and above its meadows.

The duo take their time knowing that time is all there is. It is what defines us all—our actions of the moment in the moment for all time. Though the program is barely thirty-eight minutes long, Smith's haunting voice rides freely about Myers thoughtful jubilance. Brief but regal, "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir" is the perfect reflection of the day. Smith's "Central Park at Sunset" plays out like a Monet watercolor shaded by the late afternoon light. Myers' sole composition "When Was" picks up peacefully from the close of "Central Park at Sunset" and moves safely into the quiet, though restless city night. Smith's soul deep anthems to Albert Ayler and John Lennon are fitting works intended to remind us that we all exist shoulder to shoulder. Each voice welcome. Each voice needed.

Comments