Experimental guitarist Ian Smit returns with ¿QUÉ?, a bold and spontaneous recording featuring an exceptional ensemble of David Torn on electric and national steel guitar/effects, Tom Rainey on drums, Scott Petito on acoustic/electric bass and recording engineering, and Smit on electric/acoustic guitar and effects.

The album was created through musical conversation, interaction, and improvisation, with no formal compositions or predetermined arrangements guiding most of the sessions. Only “Bee Still” and “Raindrops and Waterspouts” began with loose harmonic structures presented by Smit; everything else emerged organically in the studio.

The musicians explored melody, groove, texture, sound, dynamics, and even silence as part of the creative dialogue. Recorded together in the same studio environment, ¿QUÉ? captures the energy and unpredictability of four highly expressive musicians responding to one another in real time.



With decades of musical history connecting Smit, Torn, and Petito, and Tom Rainey bringing his highly interactive drumming to the session, ¿QUÉ? became an adventurous meeting of experience, trust, and spontaneous creativity—a recording that feels less like a conventional album and more like a musical conversation unfolding in real time.