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Wadada Leo Smith

Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR)
NPR

Jazz Night In America: Video Episodes And Shorts

Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR)

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

Watch Wadada Leo Smith play a tribute to Emmett Till while floating down the same river where, over 60 years earlier, Till's lifeless 14-year-old body was found.

Matthew Johnson, the current resident of Wadada's childhood home, gives Wadada his Mother's old bible.

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Why The 2016 Jazz Critics Poll Belongs To The Avant Gentry

Jazz critic Francis Davis says two 2016 projects from Wadada Leo Smith are are must-listens: his solo record, America's National Parks, and his collaboration with Vijay Iyer, A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke. Scott Groller/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Scott Groller/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Why The 2016 Jazz Critics Poll Belongs To The Avant Gentry

Jazz critic Francis Davis says veteran musicians — particularly Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Threadgill — are making some of the most adventurous music of their careers.

Review

Music Reviews

Wadada Leo Smith Celebrates The Centennial Of America's National Parks

Fresh Air

Five decades after Smith began recording, the trumpeter and composer is having his moment. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews America's National Parks, recorded by Smith's Golden Quintet.

Wadada Leo Smith Celebrates The Centennial Of America's National Parks

Listen · 7:36
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An Upset Either Way: Steve Lehman And Wadada Leo Smith Triumph

Wadada Leo Smith finished second in the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll, separated by only 12 points from surprise winner Steve Lehman. Scott Groller/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Scott Groller/Courtesy of the artist

A Blog Supreme

An Upset Either Way: Steve Lehman And Wadada Leo Smith Triumph

Could anyone have predicted the first and second place finishers in this year's NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll? The poll master certainly didn't — and he voted for both of them.

Wadada Leo Smith: Old And New 'Dimensions'

Wadada Leo Smith's trumpet is raw but lyrical, full of big gestures but intimate somehow. Scott Groller hide caption

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Scott Groller

Review

Music Reviews

Wadada Leo Smith: Old And New 'Dimensions'

Fresh Air

Smith had three albums out this past fall — two reissues and a new set of live concert recordings by two of his bands.

Wadada Leo Smith: Old And New 'Dimensions'

Listen · 6:07
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