The Great Lakes Suites

The Great Lakes Suites is a two-disc studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. The album was released on September 16, 2014 via Finnish TUM Records label.[6]

The Great Lakes Suites
Studio album by
Wadada Leo Smith
ReleasedSeptember 16, 2014
RecordedDecember 20, 2012
StudioAvatar Studios, NYC
GenreJazz
Length1:30:39
LabelTUM Records TUM CD 041-2
ProducerPetri Haussila
Wadada Leo Smith chronology
Red Hill
(2014)		 The Great Lakes Suites
(2014)		 June 6th 2013
(2015)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
All About Jazz[2]
The Buffalo News[3]
Financial Times[4]
Tom HullA–[5]

Background

The album includes six original jazz compositions written by Smith, three for each disc. The compositions are named after five Great Lakes and one after Lake St. Clair.

Reception

Dirk Richardson of The Absolute Sound stated, "Each of the six compositions unfolds as a suite in itself, moving through distinct though sometimes abstract themes, with the individual soloists adding shapes, colors, textures, and melodic lines within each section. “Melodic” is a critical term, for Smith is one of the great lyrical trumpeters (as was Miles) of the past 100 years, and that sensibility informs every passage, whether the pace is furious or languid, the tones declamatory or whispered. Much like Coltrane and Miles did in their classic groups, Smith has triggered a combination of vision and virtuosity in his co-conspirators (DeJohnette’s command and creativity is especially mind-boggling) that makes The Great Lakes Suites a sui generis masterpiece of loosely structured free jazz, and perhaps, indeed, the stuff of legend."[7]

Thom Jurek of Allmusic noted, " Smith's intention was to reflect the flat surfaces of the lakes and the volatility under their surfaces, but you don't need to get the concept in order to thoroughly enjoy what's on offer. Each member is not only an exceptional improviser but a composer as well. They play the material with the discipline, creativity, and intuition required by each of those talents... The Great Lakes Suites is the most accessible of Smith's recordings. Virtually any modern jazz fan can find a way inside these compositions thanks to the depth of this collective's canny communicative dialogue."[8]

Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone said, "Smith's meditation on the "restrained, yet explosive" formation of North America's five Great Lakes isn't as grand in scope as 2013's Occupy the World (with a 22-piece orchestra) or 2012's four-disc, 19-part Civil Rights miniseries Ten Freedom Summers — but the 90-minute bustle of his stripped-down all-star quartet still stands as 2014's jazz epic."[9] Britt Robson of JazzTimes commented, "Ultimately the greatest lake here is derived from the pool of talent and wellspring of innovations created by Chicago’s AACM alumni and their kindred spirits. These are musicians who understand that spatially oriented jazz requires depth as much as breadth."[10]

Track listing

Disc 1

All tracks are written by Wadada Leo Smith.

No.TitleLength
1."Lake Michigan"22:00
2."Lake Ontario"9:18
3."Lake Superior"10:39
Total length:41:46

Disk 2

All tracks are written by Wadada Leo Smith.

No.TitleLength
1."Lake Huron"17:25
2."Lake Erie"17:37
3."Lake St. Clair"13:40
Total length:48:35

Personnel

References
  1. Jurek, Thom. "Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. McClenaghan, Dan (August 27, 2014). "Wadada Leo Smith: Great Lakes Suites". All About Jazz. allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. Simon, Jeff (September 13, 2014). "Listening Post: Music by Leo Wadada Smith, The Cookers, Helen Merrill and The Winans Brothers". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. Hobart, Mike (October 3, 2014). "Wadada Leo Smith: Great Lakes Suite – review". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  5. "Tom Hull: Grade List: Wadada Leo Smith". Tom Hull. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. "Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites". Discogs. discogs.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. Richardson, Dirk (30 January 2015). "Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites". The Absolute Sound. theabsolutesound.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. Jurek, Thom. "Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. Weingarten, Christopher R. (December 29, 2014). "20 Best Avant Albums of 2014". Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  10. Robson, Britt (December 18, 2014). "Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suite". JazzTimes. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
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