Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The Matt Wilson Quartet: That's Gonna Leave A Mark

383

The Matt Wilson Quartet: That's Gonna Leave A Mark

By

View read count
The Matt Wilson Quartet: That's Gonna Leave A Mark
A drummer whose creativity, drive, dedication and infectious joy have garnered him high honors from fellow musicians and critics alike, Matt Wilson is also a perspicacious and activist bandleader. The Matt Wilson Quartet—alto and tenor saxophones doubling clarinets, bass and drums—is raucous, rambunctious and high energy. Among piano-less quartets, it's more in the tradition of Ornette Coleman, Max Roach and Charles Mingus than Gerry Mulligan or Gary Burton.

The similarities with Coleman's two-sax quartet that paired him with Dewey Redman's tenor, in whose own quartet Wilson played for over a decade, are palpable on tunes with a post-bop vibe like "Shooshabuster" and the out title track, which pair Andrew D'Angelo's alto (more than a little indebted stylistically to Coleman and Eric Dolphy) and Jeff Lederer's tenor. But Wilson also prizes an eclectic and at times proletarian vision that encompasses the classic bop of "Two Bass Hit," with a drum solo inspired by Philly Joe Jones, and the '70s soul-rock anthem from War, "Why Can't We Be Friends?," a track adding female and child voices to make the title message clear.

It also embraces the spirituality of the traditional hymn "Come and Find the Quiet Center," one of the few quiet moments on this CD, as well the Mingus-like accelerations, decelerations and quirky rhythm change-ups of "Rear Control," D'Angelo's composition featuring bass clarinet and clarinet interweaving in a jaunty tune with broad Raymond Scott cartoon theme gestures. Lederer, with the help of 12 notes chosen by his daughter Maya, contributes another two-clarinet track, "Lucky," while bassist Chris Lightcap is represented by his Ornette-ish "Celibate Oriole." Throughout, Wilson leads the charge, creating myriad driving, shifting rhythms and timbres, especially with his unique attack on drum heads and rims.

Track Listing

Shooshabuster; Arts & Crafts; Rear Control; Getting Friendly; Two Bass Hit; Area Man; Lucky; That's Gonna Leave A Mark; Celibate Oriole; Come and Find The Quiet Center; Why Can't We Be Friends.

Personnel

Matt Wilson: drums; Andrew D'Angelo: alto sax, bass clarinet; Jeff Lederer: tenor sax; Chris Lightcap: bass.

Album information

Title: That's Gonna Leave A Mark | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Palmetto Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.