''Lake Biwa'' is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter and composer

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Free ...

released on John Zorn's

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

label in 2004. The album contains four pieces composed between 2000 and 2004.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review states: "''Lake Biwa'' is a delight, and is full of invention. The players here perform the work's written and improvised sections with a determined sense of attack that also includes warmth, humor, and the desire for collective discovery". Writing for

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, Kurt Gottschalk commented "Over four pieces ranging from 10 to 25 minutes, the ensemble truly is an orchestra. When called upon to step forward, the voices of Ribot and Zorn especially are unmistakable. But the rest of the time, the group breathes together like an orchestra rather than a session group group reading charts. The compositions themselves are both serious and exciting and violinist Jennifer Choi (a regular performer of Zorn's compositions) especially shines".Gottshalk, K.
All About Jazz Review
May 28, 2006.

Track listing

All compositions by Wadada Leo Smith. # "Lake Biwa; A Fullmoon Purewater Gold" - 11:14 # "Sinai's Enclosed Garden of the Truth" - 23:50 # "Diamondback Serpent in a House Full of Water and Still Rising" - 16:00 # "Africana World" - 18:30

Personnel

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* John Zorn - alto saxophone *

Marcus Rojas Marcus Rojas (born February 23, 1963) is an American Tuba, tubist from New York City. Early life Rojas was born in New York City on February 23, 1963, and grew up in Red Hook, Brooklyn. His early influences included Eddie Palmieri, Willie Coló ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Jennifer Choi Jennifer Choi is a Korean-American violinist based in New York City. Choi graduated from the Juilliard School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has performed in a variety of settings including solo violin, chamber music, and creative imp ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Anthony Coleman Anthony Coleman (born August 30, 1955) is an avant-garde jazz pianist. During the 1980s and 1990s he worked with John Zorn on '' Cobra'', ''Kristallnacht'', '' The Big Gundown'', '' Archery'', and '' Spillane'' and helped push modern Jewish music ...

, Yuko Fujiyama,

Jamie Saft Jamie Saft is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in New York City, and studied at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Saft moved from Brooklyn to the Hudson Valley around 2007, and ...

Craig Taborn Craig Marvin Taborn (; born February 20, 1970) is an American pianist, organist, keyboardist and composer. He works solo and in bands, mostly playing various forms of jazz. He started playing piano and Moog synthesizer as an adolescent and was i ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Wes Brown, John Lindberg - bass * Gerald Cleaver, Susie Ibarra, Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng - drums

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Tzadik Records albums Wadada Leo Smith albums