To call Judge Smith an enigma might mean both going for a common place and stretching the truth, because all of his life seemed to have unfolded before the public eye – or a discerning ear, anyway – yet not a lot of the English composer’s listeners, be it those who know the role he played in VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and the records by the band’s other alumni, are aware of the veteran’s inner workings. And there’s a lot to delve in and analyze the depths of his creativity which is still on the roll, 2023’s "Mr. Mckilowatts Dances" proving this point quite persuasively. That’s why it took a special author, Spanish violinist and composer Ricardo Odriozola, to perform such no mean feat and crack the enigma’s code – to write and issue a 500-page book titled “Cannonball! The Music, Words and Images of Judge Smith” through respectable classical music publishers Musikproduktion Höflich.
How did this volume happen to exist?
“I first listened to VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR in 1979, soon becoming a devoted fan of the group and its members,” says Ricardo. “In 2001 I met David Jackson at a Peter Hammill gig in London, and the next year Jackson spent a week in Bergen at my invitation. In 2005 he briefly introduced me to Judge Smith backstage after the VdGG Festival Hall reunion concert. In 2007 David put Judge and I in contact: Judge was having some trouble getting his second Songstory ‘The Climber’ off the ground, so we met up in London in December of that year to discuss the way forward. In March 2008 Judge spent a week in Bergen, where we worked on ‘The Climber’ but also on the score of his ‘Requiem Mass’ from 1975. ‘The Climber’ was premiered and recorded in Bergen in May 2009, and in the same period we recorded the Interview sections of 'Orfeas' there.
“In 2018 Judge asked me to arrange the music for his new project ‘The Solar Heresies’ and in 2021, after having known and worked with him for thirteen years, I felt I had the necessary insight to write a book about Judge. I believe him to be a genius – a word not to be used lightly – in the way he approaches life and art. Writing the book put me in contact with some truly remarkable characters. I already knew some of them, but I got in touch with several of them for the first time. It was an honor to be so generously helped by so many great artists and people. I think that, in objective terms, Judge Smith is a seriously underrated and largely ignored artist. The quality and depth of his work has nothing to envy that of many widely known artists. This motivated me to write the book, which I hope will contribute to a wider dissemination of his work.”
What does Mr. Smith think about it all?
” I love people writing about my work, but I don’t much like reading about it” admits Judge. “No false modesty, here, it’s just a bit embarrassing. So I am having to take ‘Cannonball!’ in small bites. But I have some other good news. I was visited a few days ago by a guy from Manchester University Library where they have the British Pop Music Archive, and they are now definitely going to take my own professional scrapbook archive, which I have kept up since I was very young. So prior to putting the whole twenty-six ring-binders into boxes for the university to collect, I am going to read through it – some items for the first time.”
More so, he has his own book out, a 400-page paperback titled simply “The Collected Lyrics Of” but adding also Judge’s librettos – all of his words, encompassing each and every album, including one yet to be released, five stage shows and musicals, and stanzas for other composers’ oeuvre – but properly annotated and explained. It’s a lot of reading – and a lot of intellectual rapture.
