As part of the conclusion of its celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Wadada Leo Smith, TUM Records brings out the most extensive release of Smith´s recorded output to date, String Quartets Nos. 1-12. It is a seven-CD boxed set recorded by RedKoral Quartet and special guests comprising the first 12 of Smith´s string quartets.
String Quartets Nos. 1-12focuses on Wadada Leo Smith as a composer for strings. Smith began work on his first string quartet in 1965 and has composed additional string quartets throughout his career with String Quartets Nos. 13, 14 and 15 having already been completed by Smith after the recording in 2015 and 2020 of the music included in this boxed set. Smith has also featured strings on a number of his other major works, including Ten Freedom Summers in 2011, Occupy The World in 2012(TUM CD 037-2) and Rosa Parks: Pure Love in 2016/17 (TUM CD 057).
String Quartets Nos. 1-12 represents a magnificent addition not only to Smith´s own recorded output but also to the literature for modern string quartet music more broadly. Compositions vary from relatively brief, one-part string quartets of highly evocative and at times meditative soundscapes to the groundbreaking "String Quartet No. 11" that fills two discs with its nine movements.
String Quartets Nos. 1-12was recorded by RedKoral Quartet, including violinists Shalini Vijayan and Mona Tian, violist Andrew McIntosh and cellist Ashley Walters. Violists Lorenz Gamma, Linnea Powell and Adrianne Pope join with McIntosh on "String Quartet No. 12," which is composed for four violas. RedKoral Quartet was brought together by Smith during his tenure at CalArts and was featured on the recording Ten Freedom Summers more than a decade ago and again on Rosa Parks: Pure Love as well as in numerous live performances of Smith´s string quartets and other major works over the past decade.
In addition, featured soloists on the recording include harpist Alison Bjorkedal ("String Quartet No. 4"), pianist Anthony Davis ("String Quartet No. 6"), percussionist Lynn Vartan ("String Quartet No. 6"), guitarist Stuart Fox ("String Quartet No. 7") and voice artist Thomas Buckner ("String Quartet No. 8") as well as Wadada Leo Smith himself on trumpet ("String Quartet No. 6" and "String Quartet No. 8").
"The string quartet form and my ensembles have been major vehicles through which I have experimented with musical composition and philosophical ideas about performance and score," writes Wadada Leo Smith in his liner notes. "The ensemble as a unit required developing a language with the opportunity to apply research and dreaming-practice to reshape the terms in each new work I envisioned. My aspiration was to create a body of music that is expressive and that also explores the African-American experience in the United States of America. My music is not a historical account. I intend that my inspiration seeks a physiological and cultural reality."
"When RedKoral Quartet takes the stage, they are focused and extremely prepared and informed about the music that they are going to play," Smith writes. "Their exploration of the score(s) in a performance is precise with clear interpretation and expression. It is a moment to witness and be a part of, a shared musical experience that is beautiful, unpredictable, fresh and cleansing."
