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Matt Wilson Quartet: Hug!
A hug is something which is a distant memory for most of us these days. The warm and friendly vibes of this new Matt Wilson album could be thought of as a virtual hug, full of smile-inducing swing and raffish humor. Wilson's partners on this excursion are some of his usual cohorts, saxophonist Jeff Lederer, cornetist Kirk Knuffke and bassist Chris LIghtcap. As usual on Wilson's albums, they go through a mix of original tunes and eclectic covers. ...
read moreMatt Wilson: Hug!
While there are a number of red-letter moments on drummer Matt Wilson's latest album, Hug!, and others that are rather less so, the earnestness is high throughout as everyone in Wilson's seasoned quartet does his best to ensure its success. That success, however, rests in part on the music itself, and therein lies the down side. As noted, there are definite highs--Abdullah Ibrahim's lively “Jabulani," Dewey Redman's sunny “Joie de Vivre," Roger Miller's charming “King of the ...
read moreHeavy Rotation For A Pandemic Summer
In the summer of 2020 one result of the COVID-19 isolation, and artists inability to tour and perform is that they have time to deal with projects halted by this pandemic. Musicians, producers, and engineers have mixed, mastered and released an abundance of music. Many of the titles have been, and will be covered by our staff, but within this prolific time, we want to give readers a taste of what has been recently released and what is upcoming.
read moreMatt Wilson Quartet: Hug!
Drummer Matt Wilson's quartet opens Hug! with Gene Ammons' “The One Before This." Saxophonist Ammons often used the tune as a showcase for tenor battles with fellow sax man Sonny Stitt. Wilson and company--featuring cornetist Kirk Knuffke, sax man Jeff Lederer and bassist Chris Lightcap--lay the sound down like a party. And this quartet parties hard. It feels like a rough-and-tumble affair, going down around midnight, when the alcohol has settled in, and the half hammered dancers are stumbling around ...
read moreMark Sullivan's Best Releases of 2017
No genre breakdown this year. I've included every release that I rated at 4.5 stars or better, plus a number of 4 star reviews (that was the hard part, as there were lots of those). ECM had an exceptionally strong year, and I had trouble limiting my selection even this much. This is a chronological list, not a ranking. Club D'Elf Live at Club Helsinki Face Pelt Records Wingfield Reuter Stavi ...
read moreMatt Wilson: Honey And Salt
Drummer/composer Matt Wilson has a long-standing interest in Carl Sandburg's poetry: his debut as a leader, Wave Follows Wave (Palmetto, 1996), was named for a Sandburg poem; Humidity (Palmetto, 2003) included a Sandburg setting of “Wall Shadows"; and An Attitude for Gratitude (Palmetto, 2012) featured the Sandburg-inspired “Bubbles." But this project (begun in 2002 with the help of a Chamber Music America New Works grant) is entirely inspired by the poetry, and coincides with the 50th anniversary of Sandburg's death ...
read moreMatt Wilson: Honey And Salt
Drummer Matt Wilson has some personal connections to the great Midwestern poet Carl Sandburg in that they were both born in Knox County, Illinois and they are distantly related by marriage. Wilson has long been fascinated by Sandburg's writing and has done musical settings of his work for a long time but with Honey And Salt he finally devotes an entire CD to his poetry. He does this with the help of several musicians known for their own ...
read moreShowcase
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Starburst by AXIOM
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Touched by Love by Yola Nash
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The Prospector by Bruno Raberg
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Nada Será Como Antes by Ricardo Bacelar
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VMP Anthology: The Story of Herbie Hancock
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