The Dave Wilson Quartet – One Night at Chris’ – [TrackList follows] – Dave Wilson Music DWM001, 75:10 [5/27/19] ****:
(Dave Wilson – tenor and soprano saxophone, producer; Kirk Reese – piano; Tony Marino – acoustic bass; Dan Monaghan – drums)
What do the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Grateful Dead and George Gershwin have in common? The short answer is saxophonist and composer Dave Wilson. Material by those musicians plus a few more and four Wilson originals comprise the 75-minute, 10-track live document, One Night at Chris’. The album is the fifth from the Dave Wilson Quartet, but the band’s first concert project. It was taped at Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia in March 2018 and issued in late May this year. One Night at Chris’ is a compelling example of what can happen when the music, the compositions and the performance mesh into a superb connection.
Although Wilson has been an active jazz player for two decades, he may not be well known. Nevertheless, he’s got a solid reputation for music which harkens to traditional bebop as well as newer influences such as John Coltrane. The Pennsylvania-based artist has studied with Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano and Bill Barron; and been on stage with numerous East Coast jazz people. For this recording, Wilson alternates between tenor and soprano sax and is supported by pianist Kirk Reese (Phil Woods, Lou Marini, Billy Higgins; and fronts the Reese Project); bassist Tony Marino (an alum of the David Liebman Group, and has worked with singer Betty Buckley, pianist Jimmie Amadie and others); and drummer Dan Monaghan (credits include Peter Bernstein, Uri Caine and Randy Brecker).
The set list kicks off with Wilson’s “Ocean Blues,” a soulfully upbeat jazz tune from Wilson’s 2010 studio effort, Spiral. Wilson is hot on his tenor sax as he swings and plays fast and furious, while Reese is equally agile with grooving harmonics and melodic improvisations. Wilson has a facility for slightly slower pieces such as the seven-minute “Movin’ On,” also from Spiral. Wilson is fiery on the tenor saxophone’s lower register, soloing with aplomb and abandon. During “Movin’ On” listeners can hear how Coltrane inspired Wilson at a young age. Reese also solos, showcasing a bit of McCoy Tyner in his phrasing and harmonic interplay. That Coltrane/Tyner expressiveness is at the forefront of Wilson’s soaring 6:22 “Untitled Modal Tune,” a dynamic and heated track from Wilson’s 2002 CD, Through the Times. During this number Wilson sustains a post-bop tenacity. This up-tempo and propulsive cut displays a decisive sax/piano exchange matched by Monaghan’s driving drums. The CD’s final tune is Wilson’s title track from Spiral. During the 10-minute “Spiral” the quartet stretches out, elongating the melody and harmonic changes, and craft animated back-and-forth moments between piano and sax.
In his younger days, Wilson listened closely to Coltrane, Dexter Gordon and other horn players, but he was also responsive to rock and pop music as well. Wilson is a huge Grateful Dead fan. In the CD liner notes Wilson says, “During the late ‘70s to early ‘80s, I saw the Grateful Dead many a time and it turned my head around.” Wilson interpreted the Grateful Dead’s “Cassidy” on his 2015 release, There Never Was. Here Wilson turns the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” into a quick-striding, Latin-seasoned arrangement where Wilson switches to soprano sax to paraphrase the Dead’s lyricism and poetic structure. It’s rather astounding to hear someone push the Dead’s unhurried, country-ish song into something different and yet familiar. Another outward-bound surprise is Wilson’s re-do of Creed’s 1997 post-grunge, metaphorical “My Own Prison.” Anyone who appreciates the downtrodden original might be startled upon hearing Wilson’s sun-flecked, buoyant version highlighted by Wilson’s splendid tenor soloing, Reese’s outstanding piano improvisation and the quartet’s swinging undercurrent. Wilson’s talent for elucidation is also demonstrated on other covers.
Wilson built his seven-minute take of Lennon/McCartney’s hit “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” on Herbie Hancock’s arrangement, from Hancock’s 1996 release, The New Standard. There is beautiful musical banter between Reese and Wilson. There is a nice pop sheen which permeates Wilson’s reading of Ambrosia’s “Biggest Part of Me” (also on Spiral). Thankfully, Wilson jettisons the radio-friendly and far too slick 1980 production quality and shines a light on melodic eminence. Two memorable adaptations are Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows,” from the Beach Boys’ 1996 classic LP, Pet Sounds, and Gershwin’s oft-done “Summertime.” For “God Only Knows” (from Wilson’s 2015 project There Was Never) Wilson emphasizes the sublime melody on his soprano sax, while the rhythm section layers a mid-paced beat, escalating the arrangement. The longest number is the 11:14 rendering of “Summertime,” a tour-de-force which provides plenty of freedom, including some avant-garde dissonance on the tenor sax and a brief solitary drum solo near the end. The best kind of live jazz balances unexpected junctures, a sense of audience acquaintance with the material, and chances given and taken. Those essentials pervade One Night at Chris’, a striking live jazz record well worth discovering.
TrackList:
Ocean Blues
Friend of the Devil
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
My Own Prison
Biggest Part of Me
Movin’ On
God Only Knows
Untitled Modal Tune
Summertime
Spiral
—Doug Simpson
