A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke

A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke is an album by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist Vijay Iyer which was released in March 2016 on ECM Records.^[12]

A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke
Studio album by Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith
Released	March 11, 2016 (2016-03-11)
Recorded	October 17–19, 2015
Studio	Avatar, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	1:06:13
Label	ECM ECM 2486
Producer	Manfred Eicher
Vijay Iyer chronology
Break Stuff (2014) A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (2016) Far from Over (2017)
Wadada Leo Smith chronology
Celestial Weather (2015) A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (2015) America's National Parks (2016)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music	[2]
The Guardian	[3]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[4]
All About Jazz	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
RTÉ.ie	[7]
Blurt Magazine	[8]
Record Collector	[9]
Financial Times	[10]
Tom Hull	B+[11]

Reception

At Metacritic, that assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on seven reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".

Thom Jurek in his review for Allmusic says that:

The instincts these players offer in these works display the duo's mutual desire for intimate communication and spiritual trust through the medium of sound. Their uncompromising movement toward them results in a shared musical mind that speaks in a distinctive, unique emotional language.

— "A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (All Music Review)". All Music. Retrieved August 7, 2017.

They also selected it as one of their Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016.^[13]

In The Guardian, John Fordham gave this album four stars and says that:

Smith’s tone and phrasing often reflect mid-period Miles Davis, but he blends free jazz into those resources with a unique poetic focus. Long high squeals and tumbling unfold over Iyer’s humming electronics, a bright brass fanfare soars over a chordal rumble, and a lamenting muted-trumpet descent invokes Sketches of Spain. Iyer mostly functions as a discreet foil, but this intimate conversation swells from interesting to enthralling as it unfolds.

— "A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (The Guardian Review)". The Guardian. Retrieved August 7, 2017.

Track listing

ECM Records – ECM 2420.^[12]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Passage"	Vijay Iyer	6:15
2.	"All Becomes Alive"		9:09
3.	"The Empty Mind Receives"		4:55
4.	"Labyrinths"		6:43
5.	"A Divine Courage"		9:12
6.	"Uncut Emeralds"		7:43
7.	"A Cold Fire"		5:55
8.	"Notes on Water"		7:58
9.	"Marian Anderson"	Wadada Leo Smith	8:23
Total length:			1:06:13

All music is composed by Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith, except where noted

Personnel

• Vijay Iyer – piano, fender rhodes, electronics
• Wadada Leo Smith – trumpet

References

1. "A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (Metacritic page)". Metacritic. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
2. "A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (All Music Review)". All Music. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
3. "A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke (The Guardian Review)". The Guardian. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
4. Walls, Seth Colter (March 23, 2016). "Vijay IyerWadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke". Pitchfork. pitchfork.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
5. Ackermann, Karl (March 9, 2016). "Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke". All About Jazz. allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
6. Fordham, John (17 March 2016). "Vijay Iyer/Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke review – charismatic and subtle". The Guardian. theguardian.com. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
7. Kehoe, Paddy (13 December 2016). "Iyer/Smith - a cosmic rhythm with each stroke". RTE. RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
8. Toland, Michael (25 March 2016). "VIJAY IVER & WADADA LEO SMITH – A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke". Blurt Magazine. blurtonline.com. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
9. Waring, Charles. "A Rhythm With Each Stroke (***ECM)". Record Collector. recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
10. Hobart, Mike (April 1, 2016). "Vijay Iyer/Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke — review". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
11. Hull, Tom. "Tom Hull: Grade List: Vijay Iyer". tomhull.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
12. "Vijay Iyer / Wadada Leo Smith A Cosmic Rhythm with Each Stroke". ECM Records. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
13. "Allmusic Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016".