(Free Jazz, CIMP) Paul Smoker Quartet - Standard Deviations - 1999, APE (image+.cue), lossless

biography by Chris Kelsey
A compelling yet undersung avant-garde trumpeter, Smoker is a master of the instrument's expressive possibilities -- the growls, wahs, and other tonal manipulations that have come to define its use in jazz. Smoker's playing is not unduly effects-laden, however; he possesses a well-developed conventional technique as well. Smoker was raised in Davenport, IA, hometown to another jazz trumpeter of some distinction, Bix Beiderbecke. Like Bix, Smoker made his way to Chicago to play jazz; in the '60s he played in various groups, including a big band led by Bobby Christian. Smoker studied both jazz and classical music in his youth. He earned a doctorate in music from the University of Iowa in 1974. Smoker has spent a great deal of time teaching at Coe College in Iowa (from 1976 to 1990) and also the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Even while based in the Midwest, Smoker managed to attain a measure of notice; during the '80s he recorded several albums for the Sound Aspects and Hat Art labels with a trio that included bassist Ron Rohovit and drummer Phil Haynes. Smoker also participated in various projects initiated by Anthony Braxton during the '80s and '90s, and played as sideman on albums by drummer Gregg Bendian, percussionist Damon Short, saxophonist Randy McKean, and Haynes, among others. With Haynes, bassist Drew Gress, and saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, Smoker formed Joint Venture, a cooperative quartet that released three albums on Enja in the late '80s and early '90s. In the mid- to late '90s, Smoker began recording for the C.I.M.P. label, leading dates that included such musicians as multi-reedist Vinny Golia, bassist Ken Filiano, guitarist Steve Salerno, and Haynes. Apart from his jazz work, Smoker has played a great deal of contemporary classical music; he's been a member of the University of Iowa Center for New Music, the Iowa Brass Quintet, and the new music ensemble SOMA. Since 1990, Smoker has lived in upstate New York, where he teaches privately and plays professionally.

review by Steve Loewy
Trumpeter Paul Smoker leads his quartet through six standards in characteristic deconstructive fashion, crushing and compressing harmonies while reinventing the entire nature of the song. You would hardly recognize "You Better Go Now" or "Speak Low" under Smoker's scalpel, but the results are exquisite, if not classic. The trumpeter gargles his way softly through the Kurt Weill tune, while elsewhere he can sputter a line of 16th notes as convincingly as a child blowing bubbles. Smoker plays it down and dirty, his influences reaching way back, yet his concept is about as forward looking as can be imagined. Not only is his radical style innovative, but it is thoroughly enjoyable. The strings of electric guitarist Steve Salerno and cellist Tomas Ulrich add immeasurably to the mix, the former sounding at times like an organ, the latter like birds in flight. Drummer Jay Rosen has his fill just following the rapidly changing tempos and timbres -- which he does with finesse.