Stewart Smith

Reviewed the fantastic @frederiksbergrecords reissue of Charles Tyler’s 1975 loft scene classic Voyage From Jericho @thequietus /quietus-reviews/charles-tyler-ensemble-voyage-from-jericho-review/

Went deep on the awesome new [Ahmed] album for @thequietus Their first studio recording following a series of live releases, it sacrifices nothing in terms of energy while opening up new dimensions in their interplay. @jazbah45 @xcrswx @gripjoel @cafeotodalston

In the Stirling Observer with a report about my late mum’s Scottish book collection which the family has donated to the University of Mainz. My mum was a lifelong champion of Scottish literature and languages through her teaching and activities with the @associationforscotlit so we felt that it was important that her collection, which also includes my grandfather’s rare and antiquarian titles (MacDiarmid, an 1866 Barbour’s Bruce, a 19th C Jamieson’s Scots Dictionary et al), stays together and is shared with the world. Thanks to all at @associationforscotlit for their help and Professor Rieuwerts at Mainz for giving the books a new home. While there’s a sadness in saying goodbye to the collection, I’ll always have the memories associated with them and I know they’ll continue to be read and loved.

Excited to announce the great Rafael Toral at Star and Shadow Cinema on November 12 with an opening set from Richard Scott. Toral’s Drag City Records album Spectral Evolution was a highlight of 2024, weaving the feedback birdsong of his motion controlled Space Programme instruments into luminous guitar environments. On the forthcoming Travelling Light (out Oct 24), Toral applies that approach to a set of jazz standards, with contributions from fellow Portuguese greats Rodrigo Amado, José Bruno Parrinhar, Yaw Tembe and Clara Saleir. His solo Guitar Concert will feature material from both albums and more. I saw Toral’s final Spectral Evolution performance at Jazz Em Agosto in August and it was amazing: totally immersive, genuinely psychedelic, beautiful! Richard Scott is an artist and musician based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He plays mostly contemporary experimental music, often improvised and primarily on the viola and (sometimes tabletop) guitar. He also plays Swedish and Norwegian traditional dance music on the fiddle and has performed and recorded in the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and Slovenia, and have played in regular groups with Tapiwa Svosve, Silvan Schmid, Eddie Prévost, Angharad Davies, Hannah Marshall, Sarah Farmer, Jorge Boehringer, Andrew Woodhead, Phil Durrant, Samuel Rodgers, Joe Wright, James Opstad, Mark Sanders, Rachel Musson, Xhosa Cole and James Malone. With Tapiwa Svosve he also co-runs the label Physical Correlate. Tickets now on sale! Link in comments. Not to be missed! £15 solidarity, £10, PWYF.

Wrote a guide to some of the jazz/improv/creative musicians exploring microtonality and alternative tuning systems, chatting to @akwebber @alecgoldfarb @modney.art @zekkereyaa @muuuuuuuuuntz about their approaches for @thequietus Subscribe to read the full thing and support independent music journalism. /subscriber-area/organic-intelligence/organic-intelligence-xlvii-microtonal-jazz/

What a way to end a humid, wet day in London but with loads of your pals at a party for @big_daftie and @siljastrom leaving London. Great to see so many barry folks together, partying til the early hours, with an incredible performance from @xcrswx , happy hardcore bangers from @solipstink , and some incredible karaoke action from many, but must mention @stewfsmith and @rorysalter__ for keeping it lively. Pals are great eh 🫶🏻❤️🥰🥳🎉

Excited to announce I’ll be programming some gigs with Star and Shadow Cinema in the Autumn, starting with the great Bhutanese guitar maestro, composer and improviser Tashi Dorji on Monday October 6. From his incredible solo albums on Drag City Records & Family Vineyard, to his collaborations with Joe McPhee, Susie Ibarra, Mette Rasmussen, Bill Orcutt, Shane Parish and Eyving Kang, Dorji is an inspired artist: “deeply gnarly, finely arty”. Opening the show we’ve got a rare hometown solo set from Newcastle’s globetrotting turntable legend Mariam Rezaei, cutting, skratching, juggling & weaving diverse samples into strange & gorgeous new forms. And between the sets we’ll have a cassette DJ set from North East dictaphone wrangler & vocal improviser Posett aka Joe Murray. Fuck yeah! Tickets are available now on solidarity/standard/pwyf basis..

What a wild matinee gig @glasgowjazzfest @thegladcafe with @raymondmacdonald94 last weekend! Raymond’s incredible sax playing and singing rubbed right up against my records of tombak, drums, sine tones and Raymond’s sax into a glorious riot. I always love playing a jazzfest - thanks for the invite! Until next time… ✌🏽 Thanks 📸@seitanicmatt @stewfsmith #PeaceInTheMiddleEast #turntablism #sax #RaymondMcDonald #MariamRezaei #GladCafe #Glasgow #GlasgowJazzFestival

For the latest issue I’ve reviewed the glorious new album from Chicago’s Ben LaMar Gay and two new releases from Anthony Braxton (a thrilling document of his 1985 English tour and his extraordinary new opera - four hours of sprechgesang about pirates, killer robots and the end of the world, with incredible musical interludes). There’s also a report from the fantastic Reading Group residency at Café OTO, featuring Fred Moten & Brandon Lopez, X-Ray Hextet, Zara Joan Miller & Ute Kangiesser, Imani Mason Jordan, Cop Tears. Words & music creating fireworks!

Inside The Wire 496: Amina Claudine Myers After channelling the Great American Songbook in clubs and honing the cutting edge of Chicago’s avant garde, the keyboardist is composing some of the most ambitious works of Black creative music. Words by @stewfsmith Photos by @meghanmarin /shop/

Stunning @mariam_rezaei gig @carmebrescia last night culminating in doom breakcore section featuring vocals & beats by Mariam, guitar & bass samples by myself. #newturntablism #experimentalmusic #freemusic

In the new issue of @thewiremagazine , @stewfsmith ’s profiles living legend Amina Claudine Myers ahead of her much-anticipated upcoming album ‘Solace of the Mind’, dropping in June on @redhookrecords . Check out Stewart’s exceptional piece, featuring photography by @meghanmarin , in Issue 496, out now. . . . . . . . #thewire #wiretapper #aminaclaudinemyers #redhook #newmusic #solaceofthemind #jazz #gospel