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Dec 20, 2012Ten Freedom Summers is his magnum opus; it belongs in jazz's canonical lexicon with Duke Ellington's Black Brown & Beige and Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite.
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Nov 9, 2012In four and a half hours, Wadada Leo Smith writes one of America's defining events in sound, and the story is all of ours.
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Dec 3, 2012In this globalised but fragmented world, now so obsessed with immediacy, rapidity and digestibility, Ten Freedom Summers is a visionary work of protest and power.
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Nov 9, 2012The jazz and classical groups play separately and sometimes merge, and though conventional themes or sustained pulses are mostly sidelined by the languages of free jazz and contemporary classical music, this epic life's work is a landmark in jazz's rich canon.
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Nov 9, 2012Smith's music resonates with the suffering and the dreams of a better life that embodied the decade of 1954 to 1964 that is the subject of this powerful compendium of compositions.
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Nov 9, 2012With this encyclopedic set, Smith delivers yet another convincing musical document for his consideration as one of the most accomplished composers/bandleaders currently working in creative improvised music.
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Nov 9, 2012Another classic of the genre is born.
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Nov 9, 2012There are four CDs' worth but it's enormously rewarding, like mid-period Miles Davis playing Ligeti.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 81 out of 221
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Mixed: 17 out of 221
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Negative: 123 out of 221
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May 25, 2019
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Nov 7, 2016
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Jan 22, 2020This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.