| Spirit Catcher | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1979 | |||
| Recorded | May 21, 1979 | |||
| Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 38:34 (LP) 49:47 (CD) | |||
| Label | Nessa | |||
| Producer | Chuck Nessa | |||
| Wadada Leo Smith chronology | ||||
| ||||
Spirit Catcher is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, recorded in 1979 and released on Nessa Records. [1]
Smith leads the New Dalta Akhri, a quintet with Dwight Andrews, Bobby Naughton, Wes Brown and Pheeroan akLaff, in two original compositions: "Images" and "Spirit Catcher". In addition, Smith prepared a very unusual piece for muted trumpet and three harps: "The Burning of Stones", a composition dedicated to Anthony Braxton with elements of two traditions involving harp-like instruments, the West African kora and the Japanese koto. [2] [3] The 2009 CD reissue adds an alternate version of this piece.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [6] |
In his review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow states: "This is thought-provoking music that grows in interest with each listen." [4] The All About Jazz review by Clifford Allen says: "Recorded crisply by Rudy Van Gelder (unlike the somewhat murky Kabell LPs), Spirit Catcher presents Smith's earlier music with clarity and warmth." [7]
Bonus track on CD
Henry Threadgill is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He has performed and recorded with several ensembles: Air, Aggregation Orb, Make a Move, the seven-piece Henry Threadgill Sextett, the twenty-piece Society Situation Dance Band, Very Very Circus, X-75, and Zooid.
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the field of creative music. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers, released on May 22, 2012.
Pheeroan akLaff is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He began playing in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, with R & B keyboardist Travis Biggs, funk keyboardist Nimrod “The Grinder” Lumpkin, The Ebony Set and The Last Days. He moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and formed a group with saxophonist/flautist/percussionist Dwight Andrews. He debuted with saxophonist Bill Barron in 1975, followed by a tenure in Leo Smith's ‘New Dalta Ahkri’ (1977-1979).
Thurman Barker is an American jazz drummer.
Robert Naughton was an American jazz vibraphonist and pianist.
James Emery is an American jazz guitarist. He grew up in Willoughby, Ohio and Shaker Heights, Ohio. Emery plays archtop guitar, semi-acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and soprano guitar.
Clevont Fitzhubert is an album by American jazz saxophonist Oliver Lake recorded in 1981 for the Italian Black Saint label.
Divine Love is an album by American jazz trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith, recorded in September 1978 and released on ECM the following year. The trio features multi-instrumentalists Dwight Andrews and Bobby Naughton, with guest appearances from trumpeters Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler on one track and bassist Charlie Haden on another.
Ten Freedom Summers is a four-disc box set by American trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith. It was released on May 5, 2012, by Cuneiform Records. Smith wrote its compositions intermittently over the course of 34 years, beginning in 1977, before performing them live in November 2011 at the Colburn School's Zipper Hall in Los Angeles. He was accompanied by the nine-piece Southwest Chamber Music ensemble and his own jazz quartet, featuring drummers Pheeroan akLaff and Susie Ibarra, pianist Anthony Davis, and bassist John Lindberg.
Dark Lady of the Sonnets is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, which was recorded in Finland and released in 2011 on the Finnish TUM label.
Song of Humanity is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith with the ensemble New Dalta Akhri, which was recorded live at The Gallery, New Haven, and released in 1977 on his own Kabell label. The album was reissued in 2004 as part of the four-CD box Kabell Years: 1971-1979 on John Zorn's imprint Tzadik.
Go in Numbers is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith which was recorded live in 1980 and released on the Italian Black Saint label. He leads the New Dalta Akhri, a quartet with Dwight Andrews, Bobby Naughton and Wes Brown.
Procession of the Great Ancestry is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith which was recorded in 1983, first released in 1989 on the English Chief label licensed by Nessa Records and reissued in 2009 on Nessa.
Spiritual Dimensions is a double album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith released on Cuneiform. The first disc is the fourth release by his Golden Ensemble, which began as a quartet but here expands into a quintet with two drummers, and was recorded live at the 2008 Vision Festival in New York. The second disc is the first-ever release by Organic, an electric nine-piece band with four guitarists, and was recorded live in 2009 at the jazz club Firehouse 12 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Kabell Years: 1971–1979 is a four-CD box set released on Tzadik Records compiling American jazz trumpeter/composer/inmproviser Wadada Leo Smith's earliest albums which were originally released on his own, privately pressed label Kabell along with additional previously unissued material from the same era. The set includes the previously released material from Creative Music - 1, Reflectativity, Song of Humanity and Solo Music: Ahkreanvention.
America's National Parks is a two-disc studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.
Heart's Reflections is a two-disc studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. The album was released on May 16, 2011 via Cuneiform Records label.
Budding of a Rose is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith with a large ensemble. The album was recorded in Paris, following a radio performance the day before, and released in 1979 via German Moers Music label.
The Mass on the World is a live album by jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith released in 1978 by German Moers Music label. The album was recorded at the seventh Moers Festival in Freizeitpark, Moers, Germany, on May 15, 1978. The songs and album title are borrowed from Teilhard de Chardin’s Hymn of the Universe, a poetic and impressionistic account of the spiritual world initially published in 1961.
Sketches from Bamboo is an album by saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell. It was recorded in June 1979 at Palm Studio in Paris, and was released on LP later that year by Moers Music. On the album, Mitchell is joined by members of a large ensemble known as the Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra.
