Trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith, who will turn 75 in December, has been experiencing a remarkable (and well-deserved) later-career run. In the past several years, he’s released a number of sprawling recorded epics, all spotlighting his vibrant post-Miles Davis horn and ambitious ideas. He’s also been racking up the academic honors of late, and there’s no question his new collection, “America’s National Parks (Cuneiform),” will also be greeted with acclaim.
Consisting of six pieces spread out over two CDs, Smith — as has become his custom — presents a lot of sound to be absorbed. Most of his collaborators for this project are longtime friends who are also among the most expressive on their instruments: pianist Anthony Davis, bassist John Lindberg and drummer Pheeroan ak Laff. Listeners familiar with these names know these artists never coast: There’s a commitment to invention and, perhaps more importantly, communication, every time out. The new addition to Smith’s band, cellist Ashley Walters, brings an extra dimension of thoughtfulness to the proceedings.
This is music for careful listening, and though things can get raucous, Smith’s trumpet and the interplay of his band is generally more on the meditative side, contemplating the beauty of various aspects of the country’s natural and cultural wonders. And unlike Smith’s earlier 2016 release, the duo collaboration with pianist Vijay Iyer, the music is never too arid or academic. And word is that Smith has yet another album, in the mode of funk and fusion, due out by the end of the year. I can’t wait to hear it.
Dazzle Jazz has a couple of promising nights of music lined up for Nov. 12 and 13. The trio Invisible Bird, a “collective super-group formed in Denver,” according to their press materials, is up first. Trumpeter Shane Endsley, drummer Scott Amendola and guitarist Dave Devine all have resumes that blur the lines of jazz and rock, and they each have distinct musical personalities. Since each of the three is credited with “effects” in addition to their instruments, this should be a likable, eclectic, warped evening. And on the 13th, guitarist Joshua Breakstone celebrates the release of his tasteful new album “88” as well as a documentary about his life in music, “Soft Hands: Jazz Ethereal,” which is scheduled to air on Colorado Public Television later this month. Breakstone is reliably fleet-fingered, and “88,” which serves as a tribute to pianists who have influenced his approach to the guitar, is as inventive as his albums tend to be. Tickets for both nights of music are available through .
For fans of vocal jazz of the more mainstream variety, the double bill of Take 6 and The Manhattan Transfer are scheduled to perform at Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 10 and Boulder’s Macky Auditorium on Nov. 11…Don Byron is one of the finest clarinetists in all of jazz, and since he now calls Denver home, there have been more opportunities to hear him live, including two shows at Nocturne on Nov. 15 at 7 and 10:30 p.m. He’ll be joined by The Adam Bartczak Democracy…Laura Newman plays Herb’s on Nov. 16…
