Gary Smith is an

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

, improviser and composer from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He is known for developing dense extended techniques on electric guitar. Gary Smith has released close to twenty albums in solo, group and live settings with

Shoji Hano A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalism, minimalist music. He is best known for his "g ...

, John Stevens,

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting in ...

Masayoshi Urabe is a Japanese musician, best known for his intensely physical style of free improvisation on the alto saxophone and his deployment of long, laden silences. He has sometimes been compared to the late Japanese free jazz altoist Kaoru Abe. He has pl ...

Chie Mukai is a female Japanese composer and musician, best known for her underground improv-folk group Ché-SHIZU. She has been involved in improvised performance since 1975, when she participated in the East Bionic Symphonia group, a graduation project for ...

, Aufgehoben No Process, and

Bill Fay Bill Fay (born William Fay; 1943) is an English singer-songwriter. His early recordings were released by Deram Records, Deram, but following the release of his second album in 1971, Fay was dropped by the label. His work enjoyed a growing cult ...

Selected discography

*Gary Smith: ''Rhythm Guitar'' (Impetus) 1991 *Gary Smith: ''Stereo'' (Chronoscope) 1996 *Gary Smith & John Stevens: ''S/T'' (Ecstatic Peace) 1996 *Gary Smith: ''Forgotten Room With Chairs'' (Fmr) 1998 *Mass: ''Mass'' (Paratactile) 1998 *Mass: ''From Zero'' (Paratactile) 1998 *Powerfield: ''Electronic/Electric/Electronic'' (Paratactile) 1999 *Glass Cage: ''Glass Cage'' (Paratactile) 2001 *Aufgehoben No Process Vs Gary Smith: ''Magnetic Mountain'' (Junior Meat) 2001 *Masayoshi Urabe & Gary Smith: ''S/T'' (Paratactile) 2001 *Aufgehoben: ''Anno Fauve'' (Riot Season) 2004 *Gary Smith: ''Future Thought Reveal'' 2003 (Paratactile) 2003 *Mass: ''Mixed Media'' (Paratactile) 2003 *Mukai Chie & Gary Smith: ''Eight+'' (Paratactile) 2005 *

Group: ''Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow'' (Durtro) 2005 *Gary Smith: ''Supertexture'' (Sijis) 2006

References

External links

Gary Smith in The Wire magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gary 20th-century British guitarists 21st-century British guitarists Free improvisation English jazz guitarists English male guitarists English rock guitarists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians FMR Records artists Ecstatic Peace! artists