E.C.F.A. stands for emanation, creation, formation, and action.
Saxophonist Carl Smith is an improviser, composer, educator and organizer within an astoundingly diverse group of creative musicians. Carl has studied creative music-making privately with Frank Gratkowski, Jack Wright, Tina Marsh, Sabir Mateen, Assif Tsahar, Alex Coke, Rob Brown, Charles Gayle, Lou Grassi, and others (ask him about it.) his studies have taken him across the US and abroad, residing for times in Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Berlin.
Carl has performed around the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe with musicians from across North America, Europe and Japan, including Peter Kowald, Daniel Carter, Roy Campbell, Blowfly, Faruq Z. Bey, Dennis Gonzalez, Wadada Leo Smith and Gunda Gottschalk, among many, many others.
He is, hands down, one of the most assiduous players of his generation, anywhere. Unremitting gut-busting on the Tenor Saxophone for years has resulted in some truly outstanding music, beautiful to some, inscrutable to some, and arguably among the most important and creative voices in Jazz today. don't get me wrong here in the midst of all these superlatives, this is a work of a Trio you're invited to hear, not just two accompanists and Carl.
The album "Der Wald" features the work of former Austin resident Holland Hopson on soprano sax and Jason Friedrich on drums. I'll withhold a review here, but it is a full length CD with 8 original compositions and one Steve Lacy song. This CD will be for sale at the show, of course.
Tuesday Night's Trio finds Trumpeter Derek Phelps and tip-top Drummer Jason Friedrich (David Chenu quartet, Paris 49, Tucker Roundree sound, everyone else who plays jazz in Austin) with Carl. This particular E.C.F.A. trio is my current favorite (there have been several cabals), and has all the longtime E.C.F.A. fans aflutter and giggling with childlike joy.