Wadada Leo Smith: Tradition & Transition

Composer and trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith in commentary and concert excerpts recorded at Roulette including a duo with keyboardist Amina Claudine Myers (Central Park Mosaics, 2024), passages from his Pulitzer-nominated Ten Freedom Summers (Golden Quartet and the Pacifica Coral Reef Ensemble, 2013), and a Rastafarian ceremonial ritual with vocalist Jeanne Lee (1989) An early member and proponent of the AACM and the Chicago “creative music” paradigm, Wadada taught for years at  Cal Arts and has an enduring connection with Wesleyan University. Over the years his bands and collaborators have included Leroy Jenkins, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Davis, Oliver Lake,  Derek Bailey, and many more.