Ancestors (Wadada Leo Smith album)

Ancestors is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, which was released in 2012 on the Finnish TUM label. The album features his first recording with South African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo, after having explored the trumpet/drums duos on The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer with Ed Blackwell, Compassion with Adam Rudolph, Wisdom in Time with Günter Sommer and America with Jack DeJohnette.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
PopMatters	7/10
Tom Hull	A−

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek states "Ancestors is an intimate, canny dialogue between two great masters whose creative common language is not only expressive, it's edifying." The PopMatters review by John Garratt says "For an album coming from a pair of musicians that played together once in the ‘70s and never recorded themselves together until now, Ancestors is a damn fine work."

Track listing

"Moholo-Moholo/Golden Spirit" (Wadada Leo Smith) - 8:55
"No Name in the Streets, James Baldwin" (Wadada Leo Smith) - 8:25
"Jackson pollock - Action" (Wadada Leo Smith, Louis Moholo-Moholo) - 9:16
"Siholaro" (Louis Moholo-Moholo) - 8:02
"Ancestors" (Wadada Leo Smith, Louis Moholo-Moholo) - 25:41

Personnel

References

Ancestors at TUM Records
^ Jurek, Thom. Wadada Leo Smith - Ancestors: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
^ GARRATT, JOHN (5 November 2012). "Wadada Leo Smith & Louis Moholo-Moholo: Ancestors". PopMatters. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
"Tom Hull: Grade List: Wadada Leo Smith". Tom Hull. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

v t e Wadada Leo Smith
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums	Creative Music - 1 (1971) Divine Love (1978) Solo Music: Ahkreanvention (1979) Budding of a Rose (1979) Spirit Catcher (1979) Human Rights (1982) Procession of the Great Ancestry (1983) Rastafari (1983) Kulture Jazz (1992) Tao-Njia (1995) Golden Hearts Remembrance (1997) Prataksis (1997) Light Upon Light (released 1999) Reflectativity (2000) Golden Quartet (2000) Lake Biwa (2000-2004) Red Sulphur Sky (2001) The Year of the Elephant (2002) Luminous Axis (2002) Snakish (2005) Compassion (2002) Wisdom in Time (2006) Dark Lady of the Sonnets (2007) America (2008) Abbey Road Quartet (2008) Heart's Reflections (released 2011) Ancestors (2011) Occupy the World (2012) Sonic Rivers (2013) Red Hill (2014) The Great Lakes Suites (2012) Celestial Weather (2012) Najwa (2014) Solo: Reflections and Meditations on Monk (2014 & 2015) A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (2015) Sacred Ceremonies (2015 & 2016) America's National Parks (2016)
Live albums	Reflectativity (1974) Song of Humanity (1976) The Mass on the World (1978) Touch the Earth (1979) Go in Numbers (1980) If You Want the Kernels You Have to Break the Shells (1981) The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer (1986) Condor, Autumn Wind (1997) Organic Resonance (2003) Saturn, Conjunct the Grand Canyon in a Sweet Embrace (2003) Tabligh (2005) Spiritual Dimensions (2008 & 2009) Ten Freedom Summers (2011) June 6th 2013 (2013)
Compilations	Kabell Years: 1971–1979

v t e Louis Moholo
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums	The Nearer the Bone, the Sweeter the Meat (1979) Bush Fire (1995) Foxes Fox (1999) Khumbula (2004) Naan Tso (2004) Ancestors (2011) Keep Your Heart Straight (2011) 4 Blokes (2013)
Live albums	Spiritual Knowledge and Grace (1979) Opened, But Hardly Touched (1980) Irène Schweizer & Louis Moholo (1986) Remembrance (1988) Sibanye (We Are One) (2007) For the Blue Notes (2012) Uplift the People (2017)
Related articles	The Blue Notes Brotherhood of Breath Assagai

Categories: