Matt Wilson: Good Trouble

Drummer Matt Wilson continues his tradition of recording humorous and humanistic jazz here with the debut of a new quintet, Good Trouble, which includes both old and new associates.

This group has a two-saxophone front line with Wilson's long-time colleague, Jeff Lederer on tenor sax, and Tia Fuller on alto sax. They complement each other well as they blow through the strutting rapture of "Albert's Alley" and the dancing shuffle beat of Ornette Coleman's "Feet Music." The group's rhythm section also shines on the latter with Ben Allison cutting a deep groove on bass and Dawn Clement playfully wriggling on piano over the leader's frisky drum work.

In addition to her fine piano playing, Clement sings expressively on two tracks. "Be That As It May" is a delicate song with fragile vocals supported by piano, glockenspiel and quietly hovering saxophones, while John Denver's "Sunshine On My Shoulders" is brought into bright life by the rhythm section's swinging tempo and Tia Fuller's soaring alto solo.

The album's centerpiece is Wilson's and Lederer's "Good Trouble Suite" dedicated to the late Congressman John Lewis, a staunch civil rights champion. It begins with the saxophones shouting over a celebratory Latin rhythm on "RBG," named for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Then it moves into a theme of stately dignity played by the saxophones on "Walk With The Wind" with Allison's bass sounding as profound as Charlie Haden. The suite ends with "Good Trouble" itself, Wilson kicks up a chugging train rhythm while the rest of the band goes into a raucous hoedown mode, with Fuller's alto shouting like it is a Baptist church service.

Like all Matt Wilson projects, this album is full of energy and joy. It is an exuberant romp with an underlying message that celebrates perseverance and hope.

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