Search - Wadada Leo Smith, Wadado Leo Smith's Silver Orchestra :: Lake Biwa

The Third Stream lives on

Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 12/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Part of Tzadik's "Composer Series" of recordings, this is Wadada Leo Smith's most expansive and fully realized large ensemble album to date. Less a typical jazz album than a suite of four interrelated modern classical compositions, "Lake Biwa" touches on everything from delicate neoclassical chamber music and atonal acoustic free jazz to full blown electric Miles Davis-esque era fusion, often in the same piece. All of Smith's multifarious talents are on display on this album.



Although the actual recording line-up consists of 15 musicians, rarely do they all play at once. The four long form compositions presented on this album are reduced into even smaller, sonically disparate movements, with each distinctive section tackled by smaller units demonstrating their respective instrumental strengths. Frequently these abridged groups will subjugate their playing to act as support for one or more soloists. Although Smith's writing style is typically less episodic than it is here, the pieces on "Lake Biwa" are more influenced by both traditional classical compositional theory as well as the post-modern jump cut aesthetic.



While the album opens on a more subdued note, it doesn't take long until one of Marc Ribot's raucous electric guitar meltdowns appears. Imagine Miles Davis' electric bands circa 1974 and you'll have a good idea of where this music derives some of its inspiration. On the flip side, there are plenty of moments where John Zorn's own acerbic alto squeals along fitfully accompanied by a barrage of percussion and on occasion, tense swelling strings. Smith even chimes in with his own clarion trumpet playing for a few solo spots, one of which utilizes Miles' own signature electric wah-wah to delicious effect. Bolstered by a batterie of keyboardists, a handful of percussionists, a few string players and a varied horn section, the resulting ensemble is capable of virtually any textural configuration.



But the key difference between "Lake Biwa" and the majority of Smith's music is in the rhythm section approach. "Lake Biwa" qualifies as classical music more than jazz by virtue of the fact that it rarely, if ever, swings. That is, if one still uses such antiquated notions to classify music. Otherwise, the majority of this sounds akin to Anthony Braxton's large ensemble writing or fellow composer Anthony Davis' music for orchestra. Trumpeter and composer Butch Morris' improvised conduction ensembles share similarities with this music as well. In the truest sense of the term, this is most definitely a "Third Stream" effort.



For those interested in hearing a crack ensemble of Downtown's finest tackle some truly rewarding composed and improvised music, one need look no further than "Lake Biwa." It might not swing in a traditional jazz sense, but it veers from the sublime to ecstatic so easily that you won't miss the beat.

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