Kosmic Music

- Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

8 ½ x 11 inches each

Wadada Leo Smith

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Kosmic Music is a musical score comprised of two parts: a single mixed media drawing titled Colors and Satellites, and a pair of mixed media drawings titled Koral Reef . Conceived of together as a single musical score, the three drawings exemplify a specific stage in the evolution of Wadada Leo Smith’s Ankhrasmation Language, which he has been developing since 1967. Although at first glance the works in Kosmic Music might appear abstract compositions drawn on paper, as with other scores produced by Smith, suggestions of musical structures are revealed upon closer inspection: an entanglement of musical sheets and bright geometric forms. The artist activates these works by performing the scores live, sometimes accompanied by other musicians who are familiar with his Ankhrasmation Language and can follow the cues from the formal and musical components of the works. As described by Smith: “the scores are constructed in a way that can be used to produce music, but the music itself is not on the score. The score is this doorway where you become aware of elements like structure, shapes, color and [the] connection of those shapes and colors and lines and dots. You have to transform that into some kind of reference, [and] then you’re able to actually get to the music.”

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Wadada Leo Smith is an avant-garde jazz musician, composer, educator and visual artist, celebrated for his creative and unconventional approach to music. Over the past 50 years, a focal point of his practice has involved the ongoing research and development of his own musical language, which he calls Ankhrasmation : a neologism formed from the terms ‘Ankh,’ the Egyptian symbol for life, ‘Ras,’ the Ethiopian word for leader, and ‘Ma,’ a universal term for mother. This language is characterized by musical scores that avoid (and at times, incorporate) traditional notationsin favor of symbolic compositions of color, line, and shape. Improvisational elements of jazz are woven into Smith’s colorful pieces, some of the scores taking up to several days to perform. These vibrant constructions are filled with energy and mystery, providing creative guidance for the seasoned improviser while allowing musicians to bring their own expertise and strengths to their performance.

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Colors:

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• music.n.01
• language.n.01
• drawing.n.01
• geometric.s.01
• performance.n.01
• structure.n.01