Wadada Leo Smith, Milford Graves, Bill Laswell

*Including a 52 p. booklet.* Sacred Ceremonies represents a meeting of three true giants of contemporary creative music. On this three-CD boxed set, Wadada Leo Smith joins forces with the barrier-breaking electric bassist Bill Laswell and the late, great master drummer Milford Graves in three separate one-day sessions. The boxed set comprises a duo CD featuring Smith and Graves, a duo CD featuring Smith and Laswell and a trio CD featuring Smith, Laswell and Graves. Sacred Ceremonies brings together representatives of three distinct and highly influential movements in contemporary creative music, convening in a once-in-a-lifetime meeting of wholly singular minds. Wadada Leo Smith was a member of the first generation of composers and musicians to come out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago in the 1960s whereas Milford Graves was an important proponent of the "new music" or "free jazz" movement in New York City during the same decade. Bill Laswell in turn was an integral part of the Downtown scene in New York City in the 1970s. From those early days, they have each long since forged a totally unique personal approach to making music and have now together created a collection of music that transcends any easily definable influences. Each of the three CDs of Sacred Ceremonies includes compositions by Wadada Leo Smith as well as compositions created collectively in the studio. Sacred Ceremonies is dedicated to the memory of Milford Graves, who passed away in early 2021 of amyloid cardiomyopathy, an aggressive form of heart disease, first diagnosed in 2018. "Bill and I had the great pleasure of recording this special duet/trio project with Milford Graves and dedicate this music to him," says Wadada Leo Smith. "Milford was one of the greatest master drummers of our times, who reshaped the way rhythms are played on the drum-set. We will miss him and so will the world." Sacred Ceremonies was recorded over three separate one-day sessions at Bill Laswell´s studio in West Orange, New Jersey, in 2015 and 2016. As Bill Laswell and Milford Graves had already previously recorded a duo album at the studio in West Orange (Space / Time・Redemption, TUM CD 040, in 2013), Sacred Ceremonies can be seen to complete a full cycle of duo and trio music created by Smith, Laswell and Graves.