Wadada Leo Smith Artist Profile

WADADA LEO SMITH is a Lifetime Achievement Award honoree for the 26th Annual Vision Festival. He will be celebrated with a full night of programming on June 21, 2022. Click the button below for full schedule of Vision Festival performers, venue information, tickets, and more!

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Wadada Leo Smith (b. December 18, 1941 in Leland, Mississippi) is a trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser and one of the most acclaimed creative artists of his time, both for his music and his writings. For the last five decades, Smith has been a member of the historical and legendary AACM collective. He distinctly defines his music as “Creative Music.” Smith’s diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world. Smith’s awards and commissions include: DownBeat Magazine’s 65th Annual Critics Poll: Artist, Trumpet, and Album of the Year ("America’s National Parks"). Smith is featured on the cover of the August 2017 issue of DownBeat Magazine and in the 2016 JazzTimes Critics Poll, he was honored as the Artist of the Year. His "America’s National Parks" album earned wide praise as one of the best albums of 2016 from The New York Times, the NPR Jazz Critics Poll, The Wire, and many other publications. A finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, Smith received the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award and earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus.

Recent AFA Performance: October 8, 2020 Vision Festival Healing Soul
Upcoming AFA Performance: June 21, 2022 Vision Festival 26 Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Website: https://wadadaleosmith.com/

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​Wadada Leo Smith | AFA Artist Talks

Wadada Leo Smith shares his philosophy on music, leadership and successful collective models, education, and more in this interview for AFA Artist Talks...More