Jazz Articles about Matt Wilson

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Michael Blake: Drift

by Glenn Astarita
April 1, 2001

Following up his stunning and hauntingly beautiful 1997 solo release, Kingdom of Champra - saxophonist/composer Michael Blake enlists fellow “Jazz Composers Collective” performers along with modern jazz saxophonist Briggan Krauss and others for this equally impressive production simply titled, Drift. Here, the New York City-based artist once again demonstrates his melodic compositional gifts to coincide with his full-bodied tenor sax tone and witty arrangements.

Blake’s superb thematic invention is supplemented by a large ensemble who sound as though they enjoy ...

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Matt Wilson: Arts and Crafts

by David Adler
March 1, 2001

Ever the restless spirit, Matt Wilson tries something entirely new for his fourth Palmetto CD. Sending the members of his regular Matt Wilson Quartet on a brief vacation, the drummer recruits Terell Stafford on trumpet, Larry Goldings on piano (not organ), and Dennis Irwin on bass for a new band he calls Arts and Crafts. Previous efforts with the MWQ and with Dewey Redman have gained Wilson a left-of-center reputation, but on this album Wilson confounds expectations altogether. He begins ...

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Matt Wilson: Arts And Crafts

by Mark Corroto
March 1, 2001

If jazz is truly an American art form and said to represent all of America, then it cannot be considered strictly an urban sound. John Coltrane might have developed his ideas in Philadelphia, but he and Thelonious Monk are from rural communities in North Carolina. Even the Brooks Brothers clad Miles Davis grew up in St. Louis but spent plenty of time on his family farm. Indeed jazz has always incorporated all of America. The music of Bill Frisell of ...

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Sam Newsome: The Tender Side of Sammy Straighthorn

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 1, 2000

Picking up the soprano saxophone these days as your sole instrument can be a dangerous proposition. For one thing, the straight clarinet-like horn is notorious for going out of tune if your embouchure is not up to par. Secondly, a whole generation of Kenny G clones has left some fans thinking that the instrument is only capable of insipid and saccharine results. Venerable enough to make the soprano the focus of an entire album, Sam Newsome's The Tender Side of ...

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The Matt Wilson Quartet: Smile

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 1999

Drummer Matt Wilson leads a piano–less quartet with two horns, but if you’re expecting the second coming of Mulligan / Baker, you can shelve that notion. Wilson’s group is no lame throwback to the ’50s; on the contrary, it is almost obsessively up–to–date, using sophisticated harmonies, shifting time signatures, unconventional sounds and eccentric improvisations to press home its frequently absorbing but slightly off–center musical perspective. Wilson seems comfortable in any context, hammering the drums or caressing them as the occasion ...

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Matt Wilson Quartet: Smile

by David Adler
October 1, 1999

Drummer Matt Wilson has been active with tenor great Dewey Redman for some time; Smile is the latest installment from his own inventive quartet. The very title, not to mention the close-up of Wilson’s grinning mug on the cover, suggests that this group likes to have fun. Andrew D’Angelo is on alto sax and bass clarinet, Joel Frahm is on tenor and soprano, and Yosuke Inoue handles bass duties, both acoustic and electric.Wilson travels mainly in avant-garde circles, ...

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Matt Wilson: Smile

by Mark Corroto
October 1, 1999

This is a warning to Drummer Matt Wilson: Stop what you’re doing! Jazz is serious business. You don’t think that that Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch spent all those years writing long serious diatribes on the cultural and social implications of jazz, using words like ‘fundamentalist,’ ‘nobility,’ and ‘canon,’ to allow you to actually have so much fun playing this music. There were reports that you donned a wig on your last tour in tribute to heavy metal drummers and ...