Recommendation - Catch The Matt Wilson Quartet.

[MLysh]

I saw/heard the Matt Wilson Quartet at a super-small venue in Shepardstown, West Virginia (!) last Friday night and was blown away. If you have the chance to see them, don't miss them. I haven't been as moved or had as much fun (that's right, fun!) at a jazz concert in years. They're at The Jazz Standard in NYC tomorrow night and Wednesday. You can check out further dates on Matt's website: mattwilsonjazz.com.

Just when I thought jazz was dead...

[frichter]

I had the great pleasure of hearing Mr. Wilson with his Arts and Crafts group -- featuring the late great Dennis Irwin and that was an absolute joy. His music and his playing are so melodic and spontaneous that I think any chance you can catch him live its worth it.

You can hear his newest album in its entirety at palmetto-records.com -- it is KILLIN!

You can also hear Ben Allison's newest effort on the same website -- also a treat.

[Marc Piane]

So a funny story about Matt.

I've had the good fortune to hang and play with Matt a bunch of times. He grew up in Knoxville Illinois which is next to Galesburg where I went to undergrad. Whenever he would come to town to visit his family he'd come to the jam my group hosted at a local bar.

Now this is small town Illinois. We'd get some killin' college players from my school and the surrounding colleges but most of the locals were either blues cats trying to play jazz or older guys from the Moose Lodge. So you can image the first time Matt showed up. This was 1993 so few people knew him. He had just moved from Boston where he was playing with Charlie Kolhase, the Either Orchestra among others to NYC and started his stint with Dewey Redman... unbeknownst to us. So he shows up and comes up to ask if he can sit in. Those who know Matt know that he is a pretty quirky guy. I'm thinking "great, another townie blues drummer".

Was I wrong.

Matt not only is a great drummer, totally swinging and wildly creative, but a great guy. He is so giving, kind, and interested in continuing the aural/oral tradition of jazz and sharing the joy of Music. I'm sure I didn't match up to Dennis Irwin but he never had a attitude, was always supportive, and gave me pointers that to this day influence my playing and thinking.