Anthony Wilson’s Nonet Blooms Again on House of the Singing Blossoms

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Guitarist-composer Anthony Wilson is circling back to a format that has shaped his voice since the beginning: the nonet. His new live album, House of the Singing Blossoms (Sam First Records, 2025)), documents two nights at Los Angeles listening room Sam First and sets the stage for four shows at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab on September 4-5. The return to nine pieces, Wilson says, is not nostalgia—it is renewal!

"The first band that I recorded with was a nine-piece band," Wilson recalls. "I'd been listening to blues-based guitarists surrounded by a horn section, and I found that configuration compelling." A nonet, he realized early, was "a very good way to get myself in the swimming pool," big enough for orchestral color yet nimble enough to book, rehearse and tour. He went on to make four albums with that instrumentation, learning "a huge amount about arranging, about writing, about how my guitar could sit inside an ensemble," before shifting focus to smaller groups while touring heavily with Diana Krall. The itch never left. "I have always loved just how rich a palette, sonically, it can be to have those horns," he says. Writing new music for Sam First—then learning the venue wanted to release it—"felt like a bit of a rebirth: new players, a looser approach."

The album's title track followed the music. Wilson recalls seeing a night photograph by Paul Solomon—founder of Sam First—of a lit doorway opening onto a garden, with purple flowers glowing in the light spill. "I loved that image," he says. "I thought about this particular piece that has a melody reminiscent of a flower garden... in some way, the people in the band are like the singing blossoms, bringing melodies and themes into the space beautifully." The photograph became the cover; the phrase became a framing device for the project.

Recorded live to Sam First's analog-to-digital system, mixed in-house, and mastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman, the album aims to capture the energy of the room. "In a club with an audience, you're feeding off each other's energy," Wilson says. Unlike the "red light syndrome" of a studio date, "on a beautiful night at a club, people are excited to play... You can just focus on the good feeling of being together." He was mindful of narrative flow—"not let things get too unwieldy"—because vinyl's side lengths matter, but he refused to cut a solo just to fit the track list. With Grundman at the final stage, he adds, "you kind of feel the soundstage of the musicians enveloping you... if you're listening on a halfway decent system, you really feel like you're there."

Wilson is, by his own admission, a "vinyl nerd," and House of the Singing Blossoms gets the deluxe treatment: double 180-gram LPs, a gatefold jacket, and poly-lined sleeves in a hand-numbered edition of 1,000. Why invest so heavily in the physical object in 2025? "There's something so special about that experience," he explains. "You pick that album up, put it on your turntable, and side after side you have these 20-minute periods where you can become engrossed in the music... I feel more engaged than with digital." For Wilson, the warm analog presentation deepens the sense of presence—"almost as though stepping inside that club and watching two sets."

Part of the album's spark is the cast. The Sam First dates featured CJ Camerieri (trumpet/French horn), Alan Ferber (trombone), Nicole McCabe (alto sax), Bob Reynolds (tenor), Henry Solomon (baritone), Gerald Clayton (piano), Anna Butterss(bass), Mark Ferber (drums), and Wilson on guitar—players chosen for blend and bravery. "For me, the heart of the band is the rhythm section," he says. "I needed endlessly creative players who could swing and improvise into almost any situation—fearless people with a wide frame of reference." From there came "five great improvising voices" who could not only solo ferociously but also "think about the fine points of how they articulate," with Camerieri serving as "the perfect section leader." As for McCabe, Reynolds, and Solomon: "Anytime they put their horn in their mouth, they're playing something compelling and interesting. They express joy and openness in everything they do."

The track list speaks to lineage and appetite. The album kicks off with "Triple Chase," a modal burner by Wilson's father, the composer and bandleader Gerald Wilson. Sequencing it first was a statement of intent. "Out of the gate, it shows that what this band is about, above all else—even though it's about writing and arranging—is a commitment to serious improvising and serious playing," he says. Producer Dave Robair (as Wilson pronounces it in conversation) urged the opener, and the band obliges: "There's a count-off, and Gerald Clayton comes out of the gate with a solo that's just fantastic, and then the saxophones follow suit." For Wilson, the choice honors his father's values, too.

Later comes "Bordertown," a tune by tenor saxophonist Bennie Wallace that Wilson reimagines for nine voices. "It's got that Southern strain of beauty and Americana," Wilson says, likening its feel to "a swampy... cinematic" scene where you "go through the swinging doors of the saloon and end up in some new space." The album also nods to Joe Zawinul and Keith Jarrett, reflecting Wilson's current emphasis on "song shapes" inside larger forms. "I like the sense that you're telling a story," he says. "Melodies can carry forth a feeling, and that's what I'm looking for most of all." Even his originals—"The Blues for Wandering Angels" and the title track—were written with "a songful melody that you can latch onto and hold."

Bay Area audiences will hear a slightly different roster at SFJAZZ, blending veterans with rising players. "We're gonna have kind of a hybrid of the album group and some other folks," Wilson says, citing drummer Mark Ferber, saxophonists Nicole McCabe and Bob Reynolds, pianist Josh Nelson, and a trio of younger talents: trombonist Nate Gilbreath, bassist Alan Jones, and baritonist Daniel Wigida. The Joe Henderson Lab—a glass-walled, street-level room—suits his aims. "You're close to the audience... the sense of the cityscape will invigorate the players and the audience," he says. It's also a milestone: "This is my first time bringing my own band to SFJAZZ at the beginning of their season... I'm absolutely honored and completely excited!"

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