LEO SMITH – Spirit Catcher (LP-1979)

Label: Nessa Records – N-19

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: US - Released: 1979

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded May 21, 1979 Van Gelder Studio.

Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder

Liner Notes – Robert Palmer

Producer, Photography By – Chuck Nessa

A  -  Images ...................................................................................................  19:15

B1 - The Burning Of Stones ............................................................................  9:47

B2 - Spirit Catcher ...........................................................................................  9:54

Leo Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn

Bobby Naughton – vibraphone [vibraharp] (tracks: A, B2)

Dwight Andrews – clarinet, tenor saxophone, flute [wooden flute] (tracks: A, B2)

Wes Brown – bass, flute [wooden flute] (tracks: A, B2)

Pheeroan AkLaff – drums (tracks: A, B2)

Carol Emanuel – harp (track: B1)

Irene Smith – harp (track: B1)

Ruth Emanuel – harp (track: B1)

"The dry and often esoteric trumpeter Leo Smith is featured with his quintet (consisting of Dwight Andrews on tenor, clarinet and flute, vibraphonist Bobby Naughton, bassist Wes Brown and drummer Pheeroan AkLaff) on the 19-minute "Images" and the colorful "Spirit Catcher." "The Burning of Stones" (dedicated to Anthony Braxton) has Smith's trumpet joined by three harpists for some unusual music. Throughout the LP the performances are unpredictable, and it's frequently difficult to know where the arrangement ends and the improvising begins. This is thought-provoking music that grows in interest with each listen."

_ By Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Spirit Catcher finds Smith in a key period of his career. Having already played with kindred spirits in Anthony Braxton and in Derek Bailey’s Company, he was moving from solo improvisation to experimenting with radical new group compositions, underpinned by his own personal theories. Spirit Catcher came soon after the highly regarded Divine Love (ECM, 1979) where his muted trumpet was joined by those of Kenny Wheeler and Lester Bowie in an awesome threesome. On Spirit Catcher Smith creates contexts that are just as innovative as those on the ECM album.

The album opens with “Images,” a quintet piece which, as on the ECM album, is immediately given a cool, tranquillity by the inclusion in the rhythm section of Bobby Naughton’s vibes. Also retained from Divine Love is clarinetist Dwight Andrews; the two feed off each other and their lines interweave, complementing and enhancing one another. Throughout, the economy of Smith’s trumpet is worthy of comparison with Miles, foreshadowing his later Yo’ Miles group with Henry Kaiser.

More radical still takes of “The Burning of Stones,” on which the trumpet is accompanied by three harps. This setting takes Smith’s music way beyond the boundaries of “jazz.” Instead, this is almost a concerto for solo muted trumpet. But such distinctions become meaningless when the resulting music is this beautiful, this piece was not improvised but composed, the interactions between harps and trumpet being finely judged to display both to best effect. Dedicated to Braxton, it is Braxtonesque in its vision and its daring.

_ By JOHN EYLES (Dusted Reviews)

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