Matt Wilson's Good Trouble: Love Is The Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces

Drummer Matt Wilson has never needed a soapbox to make a point. His drumming has always been open, as if the music has something to say. It makes sense, then, that Wilson has reconvened Good Trouble to continue making good music with good people, which he considers the most effective form of dissent. With Tia Fuller and Anisha Rush on alto saxophones, Jeff Lederer on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Dawn Clement on piano and vocals, and Ben Allison on acoustic and Hofner electric bass, Wilson has assembled a band that understands that conviction and pleasure can coexist in the same musical space.

The album opens with Wilson's "Wind Spirit," as Clement quietly sings the Biblical verse John 3:8 about the wind blowing wherever it pleases, while Wilson brushes the cymbals so softly that one almost feels them rather than hearing them. The ensemble then enters individually, as if carried into the room by the breeze. Bobby Watson's "Fuller Love" was written as a tribute to trombonist Curtis Fuller. It starts with a groove-centered vamp that the band picks up, and Fuller (Tia) digs in with a muscular, lyrical alto sound.

The segue into Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" is a surprise. Unlike the rock version, the band, led by Clement's vocals, strips the song down to quiet resistance, and Lederer's eight-bar tenor solo is especially memorable. Andrew Hill's "Black Fire" delivers a different kind of heat, with the rhythm section tightly wound beneath the horns. Fuller and Lederer deliver fiery solos that never lose sight of Hill's angularity.

Clement sings the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Has A Heart" with just the right balance of restraint and ache. There are no theatrics here, as the song's sadness speaks for itself.

At this point, the perspective shifts subtly. The inward-looking vulnerability of the previous song yields to music that looks outward towards community and inclusiveness. This distinction is important because Wilson's notion of love is never merely romantic. It is social and, when necessary, a little unruly. For example, his composition "Welcome Table" is more communal. Its open-hearted melody is occasionally punctuated by bracing avant-garde angles, suggesting that togetherness is often untidy.

Finally, the title track is "Love Is The Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces." The song reinforces the communal concept, as a chorus of family and friends joins the musicians in chanting the title, and somehow it does not sound sentimental. The listener is left with a simple hope that love might be strong enough to build a better future.