Matt Wilson Quartet: Humidity

The classic Ornette Coleman quartets and trios serve as a point of reference for “Thank You Billy Higgins!”, the disc’s opening track. Fueled by the leader and Yosuke Inoue’s bass, a shifting, three-part theme turns into a joyous rush of momentum supporting Jeff Lederer’s tenor sax. Although he’s paying homage to Higgins, Wilson’s drumming also resembles two of Coleman’s stalwart colleagues, Ed Blackwell and Charles Moffett—especially during the bustling, march-tinged cadences that interact with Andrew D’Angelo’s alto sax. The drummer’s solo is a model of intelligent, cleanly executed, thematic playing that, despite its precision, never stops bounding forward.

The standard “Don’t Blame Me” serves as an example of one of the ways in which Wilson and the band discard or alter conventional forms, dodge expectations, and still come up with a holistic performance. It begins with a somber, out-of-tempo, slightly dissonant melody as Wilson’s brushes seem to flap in different directions. Then a bit of drama is induced by a brief, obsessive motif played by the horns. Sounding both tough and tender, Lederer’s tenor follows for the remainder of the track, approximating a conventional, almost romantic ballad style, over a sparse bass and drums foundation.

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