 Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts |
 Matt Wilson |
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Story and Photos by Ira Ochs On Saturday night, I am pretty sure that I heard a drumset sing. At least, that's the only way that I can think of describing it. I clearly heard notes coaxed from toms, a snare drum handled with extraordinary subtlety, and cymbal work that was simply masterful, energetic and busy but not overbearing. This melodic approach was in no way gimmicky, it struck me as a manifestation of understanding the real voice of the instrument.On Saturday night, I was at the Green Mill. The drummer in question was Matt Wilson. His quartet, Arts and Crafts, featured Ron Miles on cornet, James Weidman on piano, and Martin Wind on bass. The four musicians are incredibly like-minded, and it surprised me to find out that this particular edition of Arts and Crafts had only been performing together for a few days. The four musicians are all clearly masters, but none have a flamboyant or virtuostic style. Nobody, except perhaps Wilson himself, showed technical ability that set them apart from other elite jazz musicians. What they have in common is a natural musicality, colorful individual sounds, and a less-is-more mentality. Ron Miles was a pleasure to watch. His lines tend to be chromatic and complex in the tradition of 1960s freebop, consistently evoking the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Don Cherry, and Joe Henderson. Miles sets himself among musicians of this tradition with a sound that is consistently warm and expressive. He never showed the harsh edge that can make players with such a complex vocabulary sound overly cerebral. Weidman consistently showed subtlety and versatility with his keyboard work. Rotating between the piano, organ, and melodica, Weidman consistently set the exact right tone for the group through an astonishing variety of styles. Although his fairly traditional approach is largely based on subtle colors and textures, his solos consistently had great energy and power. Martin Wind was generally content to take a back seat to Wilson, but he was never overpowered. His solos are very much bass player solos, extremely musical works that build from simple melodic ideas that exploit the natural character of his instrument, rather than demonstrate that he can play the same things as a horn player. The band opened with Thelonious Monks "We See." I was immediately struck by how light and understated their approach was, especially for a drummer-led band. It sounded much like Monk himself might have done it fifty years earlier. As if they were deliberately trying to defy definition, the next song was completely different. "The Scenic Route," a Matt Wilson original (and title track for his 2007 release), is a funky blues with driven by an earthy bass line and an energetic double-time drumbeat. Weidman played the organ on this, and he raised the set's energy level with a commanding solo that featured a series of sustained, powerful chords. However, the band quickly pulled back into a playful and experimental breakdown. Wilson set down one drumstick in favor of a harmonica, using his other hand to bring high-pitched squeaks from his cymbals. Weidman started playing high-pitched chromatic lines on the organ, going for a very hollow and ethereal sound. Wind and Miles filled out the texture with equally abstract lines. The musicians were obviously having a lot of fun playing. After an original ballad by Martin Wind that highlighted the natural warmth and musicality of all four musicians, Arts and Crafts closed the first set with one of the most peculiar songs I ever expect to hear. "Bubbles," explained Wilson, is one of a series of songs that he wrote built around a Carl Sandburg poem. The song featured very little tonal consistency - a drum solo, with many "toys," and an extended cornet-drum duet that evoked Coltrane with its elasticity were two memorable moments. The song ended with a recitation of the original Sandburg poem, a short piece about bubbles and rainbows, accompanied with more sound effects from all four musicians. Especially impressive was Weidman's work on recorder and melodica. Weidman did not use the melodica as a solo vehicle, but instead exploited its unique set of textures and colors. The second and third sets featured less experimentation and more to hard swinging. Their musicality, energy, group cohesiveness, and soloing brilliance continued to improve as the night went on. The diverse second set featured standards such as "Love Walked In," "I Remember You," and a rousing version of "Walkin'" mixed in with songs by Ornette and Rashaan Roland Kirk. The highlight of the final set was another Wilson original, "Feel The Sway." Wilson let his band take care of a groove while talking to the audience and leading them in a chant of "feel the sway now." Wilson was funny and candid, and his spontaneous, conversational style showed a strong connection with the audience. Despite having heard this group for three hours, I was disappointed when they left the stage at midnight. Arts and Crafts won me over not with virtuosity but with musical maturity. Their ability to combine the melodic and warm with the abstract and complex, and the experimental and humorous with the rousing jams, is truly unique. |
 Arts & Crafts |
 James Weidman & Martin Wind |
 James Weidman |
 Matt Wilson |
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