Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
A new Matt Wilson album isn’t so much a snapshot capturing the drummer at a particular moment in time. Rather, his recordings are more like a musical family tree, vividly illustrating the web of relationships that manifest his music. A creative force since the 1980s, the drummer embodies a verdant and radically unbounded aesthetic, and “Hug” embraces some of his deepest nourishing roots. Featuring Wilson’s long-running quartet with saxophonist Jeff Lederer, cornetist Kirk Knuffke and bassist Chris Lightcap, the disc documents one of jazz’s most potent and expressive working bands exploring a typically far-flung Wilsonian program.
The title of “What Comes Next,” the latest album from guitarist Peter Bernstein, certainly echoes a question that we’ve all been asking ourselves in recent months. Locked away, wary of leaving the house during a global pandemic, divided by politics and protest. The disc arrives in the midst of a quarantine but was recorded during the lockdown as well. With tour schedules and conflicting dates hardly being an issue, Bernstein assembled a dream quartet for the date. He’s joined by Grammy-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer and frequent collaborator Joe Farnsworth and the always exquisite bassist Peter Washington. “We all kept our masks on,” recalls Bernstein. “It felt a little strange at first, but I’m just thankful for the chance to try and create something with musicians I love.”
Also this week, “Figure Two: New Designs” is the second volume from Chicago trumpeter and composer Markus Rutz’s Blueprints series, navigating diverse ensemble and stylistic directions through six original compositions and jazz standards by McCoy Tyner, Sam Rivers and Frank Foster;
the Yellowjackets’ 25th album, “Jackets XL,” combines the shapeshifting, multiple Grammy Award-winning quartet with the superb WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany;
and “Party of Four” is a cornucopia of swing and harmony from The Royal Bopsters, the vocal quartet featuring Holli Ross, Amy London, Dylan Pramuk and Pete McGuinness, joined by special guests Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough, and bassist Christian McBride.