Name: In Common III
Brand: Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

WR4783

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-09-02

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Proper

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

655498298035

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Whirlwind Recordings

Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens are two musicians at the forefront of developments in jazz and improvised music, listing the likes of Terence Blanchard, Ambrose Akinmusire, Esperanza Spalding and Christian Scott as collaborators. The pair started working together in 2017, and four years later, they're back for the third iteration of their highly commended In Common project. Previous guests include Nate Smith, Linda May Han Oh and Marcus Gilmore; on In Common III, Kris Davis takes the piano chair vacated by Micah Thomas, and completing the lineup are two legends of the game - Dave Holland and Terri Lyne Carrington.

What's new, third time around? "It's longer, freer, and yet more spontaneous," says Smith. The successful In Common formula - inventive 'one-page songs' written with specific musicians in mind - disguises the through-line that uniquely shapes this record: "The spotlight is on the community of musicians as a whole," Smith comments. "The general vibe is sculpted by the musicians' interpretations of what we bring in." Davis' influential presence means the project leans into the aesthetics of free improvisation for the first time; the resulting soundworld lends itself to electronic manipulation, another first for the series. The span of fifteen tracks showcases the duo's knack for reinvention, slipping into unfamiliar contexts without losing sight of the album's focused essence.

Smith is keen to emphasise the standalone nature of the divergent In Common recordings. Some aspects carry through though, like their commitment to remembering lost influences - opener 'Shine' serves as both a thank you and an acknowledgement to McCoy Tyner, Wallace Roney, Chick Corea, Jimmy Health and Ellis Marsalis. That introduces the remaining fourteen tracks, that divide nearly exactly into spontaneously constructed ideas that introduce fully composed tracks.

In Common III

Music GB