Steve Wilson: Enduring Sonance

Virginia-born, New York-based alto saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Steve Wilson has created a sonic palette overflowing with delightfulness with Enduring Sonance, Wilson's debut album. Wilson's trademark dulcet tones fill the record, which eschews any hint of difficulty or impenetrability in favor of pure pleasure and musical expertise. Enduring Sonance is calculatedly straight-ahead, an exercise in accessibility without sacrificing sophistication.

Wilson is supported by a tight, powerhouse backing band. The brilliant pianist Renee Rosnes, who has a longstanding relationship with Wilson, is the album's lynchpin, providing a thematic base layer that gives Wilson plenty of room to cook. On an album that plays with mood like Enduring Sonance, the vibraphone is always a welcome addition, and Joe Locke's sounds fill in the spaces beautifully. While the record generally emphasizes melody more than groove or funk, the rhythm section of Jay Anderson (bass) and especially Kendrick Scott (drums) is more than competent, and Scott's fills, in particular, add a welcome discord to the sweeter tones created by the other instruments. Kevin Newton (French horn) rounds out the ensemble on two tracks.

Wilson originally intended Enduring Sonance to be a ballads album. He ultimately expanded the album's focus, but the compositions generally lean mellow. Wilson's song selection is excellent. Rosnes and Wilson engage in a lovely duet on opener "Quiet Girl," written by pianist Billy Childs, that is ultimately lifted by Locke's vibraphone tones. Wilson follows with a work by another piano legend: George Cables' "Helen's Song," which is pure joy. As with the opening track, Wilson's interplay with Rosnes provide the song's highlight, with the two, along with Locke, taking solos that strike just the right level of strength without betraying the song's feel-good atmosphere.

"How Long," composed by George Cables and originally appearing, in memorably powerful fashion, in Lee's son Spike's film Do the Right Thing, is bluesy, deep, and, in a departure from the rest of the album's genial optimism, quite political. Wilson's saxophone is powerful and formidable, and the song gives Anderson a chance to solo a bit before handing the song back to the leader. The album almost jarringly see-saws back to Elaine Elias' bossa nova-tinged "A Volta," with the group dancing around a cheerfully bouncy motif.

Enduring Sonance concludes with Milton Nascimento's gorgeous "Francisco," which honors Wilson's original objective of creating a ballads album. Again, Rosnes' stunning piano scales build a surface from which Wilson is able to launch. The song is slow but mighty, and create a mood which lasts well beyond the album's finish.