The Great Lakes Suites

2014 studio album by Wadada Leo Smith

The Great Lakes Suites

Studio album by

Wadada Leo Smith

Released| September 16, 2014
Recorded| December 20, 2012
Studio| Avatar, New York City
Genre| Jazz
Length| 1:30:39
Label| TUM Records TUM CD 041-2
Producer| Petri Haussila
Wadada Leo Smith chronology
| Red Hill
(2014)  | The Great Lakes Suites
(2014)  | June 6th 2013
(2015)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [1]
All About Jazz| [2]
The Buffalo News| [3]
Financial Times| [4]
Tom Hull| A−[5]

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]

## Background

[edit]

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

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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

[edit]

Disc 1

All tracks are written by Wadada Leo Smith.

No.| Title| Length

|
|

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.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Lake Huron"| 17:25
2.| "Lake Erie"| 17:37
3.| "Lake St. Clair"| 13:40
Total length:| 48:35

## Personnel

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* Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet
* Henry Threadgill – alto saxophone, flute and bass flute
* John Lindberg – double bass
* Jack DeJohnette – drums

## References

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

* v
* t
* e

Wadada Leo Smith

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.

Studio
albums|

* Creative Music - 1 (1971)
* Divine Love (1978)
* Solo Music: Ahkreanvention (1979)
* Budding of a Rose (1979)
* Spirit Catcher (1979)
* Human Rights (1982)
* Procession of the Great Ancestry (1983)
* Rastafari (1983)
* Kulture Jazz (1992)
* Tao-Njia (1995)
* Golden Hearts Remembrance (1997)
* Prataksis (1997)
* Light Upon Light (released 1999)
* Reflectativity (2000)
* Golden Quartet (2000)
* Lake Biwa (2000-2004)
* Red Sulphur Sky (2001)
* The Year of the Elephant (2002)
* Luminous Axis (2002)
* Snakish (2005)
* Compassion (2002)
* Wisdom in Time (2006)
* Dark Lady of the Sonnets (2007)
* America (2008)
* Abbey Road Quartet (2008)
* Heart's Reflections (released 2011)
* Ancestors (2011)
* Occupy the World (2012)
* Sonic Rivers (2013)
* Red Hill (2014)
* The Great Lakes Suites (2012)
* Celestial Weather (2012)
* Najwa (2014)
* Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk (2014 & 2015)
* A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (2015)
* Sacred Ceremonies (2015 & 2016)
* America's National Parks (2016)

Live
albums|

* Reflectativity (1974)
* Song of Humanity (1976)
* The Mass on the World (1978)
* Touch the Earth (1979)
* Go in Numbers (1980)
* If You Want the Kernels You Have to Break the Shells (1981)
* The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer (1986)
* Condor, Autumn Wind (1997)
* Organic Resonance (2003)
* Saturn, Conjunct the Grand Canyon in a Sweet Embrace (2003)
* Tabligh (2005)
* Spiritual Dimensions (2008 & 2009)
* Ten Freedom Summers (2011)
* June 6th 2013 (2013)

Compilations|

* Kabell Years: 1971–1979

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group
* 2

|

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