The Year of the Elephant

The Year of the Elephant is the twenty-fifth studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith which was recorded in 2002 and released on Pi Recordings.[1] It was the second recording by his Golden Quartet featuring pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Malachi Favors and drummer Jack DeJohnette.[2]

The Year of the Elephant
Studio album by
Released2002
RecordedApril 18 and 19, 2002
StudioMRS Recording Studio, New York City
GenreJazz
Length60:30
LabelPi Recordings
ProducerWadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith chronology
Red Sulphur Sky
(2001)
The Year of the Elephant
(2002)
Luminous Axis
(2002)

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[4]
Tom HullB+[5]

In his review for AllMusic, David R. Adler states "Both Davis and DeJohnette are credited on synthesizer, but the sounds they employ are remarkably close to the old-fashioned, analog Wurlitzer. Combined with Favors' resonant, grooving basslines and DeJohnette's loose straight-eighth rhythms the result is somewhat akin to Miles Davis in the In a Silent Way period."[3]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz describes the album as "A surprisingly straight-ahead jazz record, strongly influenced by electric-period Miles Davis."[4]

The All About Jazz review by Dan McClenaghan says "Smith's horn work is very Miles-like,the wounded, open horn cry, the plaintive and introspective mute work, the judicious use of silence."[6]

In his review for JazzTimes Duck Baker notes that "Even though '70s Miles is a frequent departure point for The Year of the Elephant, jazz-rock fans may not feel comfortable with the music while listeners who usually have trouble with rock-type rhythms may be amazed to hear them used in such a creative context."[7]

Track listing

All compositions by Wadada Leo Smith
  1. "Al-Madinah" - 10:01
  2. "Piru" - 10:51
  3. "The Zamzam Well a Stream of a Pure Light" - 8:56
  4. "Kangaroo's Hollow" - 7:06
  5. "The Year of the Elephant" - 9:19
  6. "Miles Star in 3 Parts: Star/Seed/Blue Fire" - 14:17

Personnel

References

  1. "Wadada Leo Smith discography". Jazz Lists. jazzlists.com. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. The Year of the Elephant at Pi Recordings
  3. Adler, David R.. Wadada Leo Smith - The Year of the Elephant: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  4. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2006). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (8th ed.). London: Penguin. pp. 1211. ISBN 0141023279.
  5. "Tom Hull: Grade List: Wadada Leo Smith". Tom Hull. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. McClenaghan, Dan. The Year of the Elephant review at All About Jazz
  7. Baker, Duck. The Year of the Elephant review at JazzTimes
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