By Alison Glander
DALLAS – Strange music circulated through the air as a gypsy percussion ensemble, adorned with colorful costumes and oddly shaped instruments, performed in the atrium of the Meadows School of the Arts lobby at SMU. Ed Smith, a musician himself and an accompanist for SMU’s dance program, stood in the corner tapping his foot, fully engaged in the unique sounds being created in front of him.
Ed Smith’s passion for all things music-related developed was he was very young. One February evening, Smith’s older brother told him to tune into the Ed Sullivan show to watch the Beatles perform as the guest artist that night.
Smith said, “I remember feeling the amazing energy coming off of the television screen, and I knew right away that music was something I wanted to do.” The rest became history.
After seeing the television show that changed his life at the ripe age of 10, Smith set his priorities straight. He wanted to grow up to be a famous musician that had all the ladies swooning and screaming in the audience. In order to get to that point, he had a lot of work to do.
He began playing anything and everything that would produce a sound. He beat and banged on pots and pans until finally his parents bought him a snare drum.
Smith began his official training in junior high with the music director at his school, and learned how to read rhythms. Smith’s knowledge of the English language developed at the same rate his ability to read music did.
“Music is my other language,” he said.
Smith was a drummer throughout high school, and he didn’t switch over to melodic percussion until his first day in college. He discovered the marimba, and switched over to mallets for two years of school. While he enjoyed learning new instruments, he felt as though he had found his true calling when he discovered the jazz vibraphone.
Smith immediately fell in love with improvisation, and he yearned to pursue improv in a less elementary setting. The capital of vibraphone music was in Boston, so he dropped out of school to pursue his passion. While Smith realizes nowadays that he wouldn’t have been able to do so, he is still glad he made the choice to leave school and study privately in Boston and later New York.
Smith grew up in Garland, though, and realized that he wanted to go back to Texas. He returned and began making a name for himself in Dallas while having the opportunity to record with many jazz groups, including performances with John Cage, Phil Woods, and Johnny Mathis.
In addition, he began playing live music for dance classes at SMU, which since has become an additional passion for him, as well as an important aspect to his musical career. Playing for dancers gives Smith the opportunity to improvise and explore, while the parameters of traditional dance classes guide his exploration in different ways than if he were playing freely. Smith felt that this has been crucial to furthering his talent and artistry as a musician.
Smith’s musical talent has brought him all over the country and internationally as well. In 1995, he traveled to Bali for the first time, hoping to delve into another culture and expand his musical horizons.
Smith, a huge advocate of traveling and experiencing new things, said, “You can add a new kick-start into your life by studying another culture’s music.”
Smith, who now teaches private vibraphone and improvisation lessons at SMU and the University of North Texas, fell in love with the music in Bali. He feels as though the music is so beautiful and complicated, and he loves how important music is to the Balinese culture.
He also teaches Balinese Gamelan to the pupils who are willing to pursue world music, and is a member of a Balinese Gamelan group here in Dallas, called D’Drum. For most people who aren’t familiar with these exotic instruments, Balinese Gamelan is the traditional Balinese orchestra composed of various forms of percussion.
Smith’s passion for Balinese Gamelan has garnered attention from all kinds of audiences, most notably Steward Copeland, the drummer of The Police. After receiving an invitation to compose a work for D’Drum, Copeland immediately accepted, as he was fascinated by the Gamelan and wanted to learn more. Copeland traveled to Dallas to collaborate with D’Drum, and the experience left Smith awestruck.
“Copeland was always one of my heroes,” Smith said.
Through exploration and improvisation, they created an innovative concerto. The Balinese Gamelan makes music on a 5-tone scale, which isn’t tuned to western pitch. What they did was revolutionary – they had a Gamelan maker in Bali customize the instrument to make it capable of playing on a 12-tone scale. This allowed D’Drum to play the Gamelan like a piano and make western melodies.
John Bryant, an established film director and a friend of the group’s saw promise in the work. He formed a page on Kickstarter and was able to raise $95,000 to create a documentary about the collaboration.
The film, called Dare To Drum has a tentative release date of January and will be playing in theaters in Dallas, specifically the Angelika Film Center. The film was even submitted to the Sundance Film Festival in early September.
While music has brought Smith wonderful opportunities, it has mainly been a way for him to express himself. Smith’s music has always been fueled with emotion and personal stories, but the recent death of his sister gave his music an even deeper meaning.
In honor of her, he created a piece called Sekar Helen, which is the Balinese word for flower combined with his late sister’s name, thus translating the title to “Flowering Helen.”
“The music produced by the Gamelan is hard, fiery and energetic. I wanted to turn my grief into this composition to make sort of a lullaby; to make something sweet, like a music box. The piece has finally come to its fullness and the sound expands like a bouquet of flowers,” he said.
When asked if Smith had any advice for aspiring musicians and improvisers, he said “Keep at it and eventually you can learn to express your deep emotions; but don’t be frustrated when it is challenging.”
Smith said, “Performing music is second nature. You get to this point to where you’re beyond producing notes and produce something else, something deeper, something more beautiful.”
To learn more about D’Drum’s journey making Dare to Drum, visit the kickstarter page.
