SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2021
VOLUME NINE NUMBER THREE
FARUQ Z. BEY
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
William Parker
(January 23-29)
Jason Palmer
(January 30-February 5)
Living Colour
(February 6-12)
Charles Tolliver
(February 13-19)
Henry Grimes
(February 20-26)
Marcus Strickland
(February 27-March 5)
Kendrick Scott
(March 6-March 12)
Seth Parker Woods
(March 13-19)
Kris Bowers
(March 20-26)
Ulysses Owens
(March 27-April 2)
Steve Nelson
(April 3-9)
Steve Wilson
(April 10-16)
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-wilson-mn0000045734/biography
Steve Wilson
(b. February 9, 1961)
Artist Biography by Stacia Proefrock
Best known as a sideman in Chick Corea's Origins and many other famed jazz ensembles, Steve Wilson developed his fluid style and versatility through years of study, touring and session work with artists like Jon Hendricks, Ellis Marsalis, Don Byron, the Mingus Big Band, Out of the Blue and Frank Foster. By the early '90s, Wilson was stepping out on his own as a leader, issuing a series of albums for the Criss Cross label. By the mid '90s his work began to earn increasing critical praise -- in 1997 and 1998 he was named in a Downbeat critics poll as a "talent deserving wider recognition" for both soprano and alto saxophone. Two projects in the late '90s especially highlighted Wilson's strengths; Avashai Cohen's 1998 album, Adama, was a beautiful exploration of Middle Eastern sensuality that often seemed hung on Wilson's bright and flowing sax lines. His own 1999 project for Concord records, Generations, showed off Wilson's flexibility, by bringing together a multi-generational cast of players, including Ben Riley, Ray Drummond and Mulgrew Miller. Passages appeared the following year.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/stevewilson
Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson has attained ubiquitous status in the studio and on the stage with the greatest names in jazz. A bandleader in his own right, Jazz Times calls him the consummate saxophonist-composer and one of the finest alto and soprano saxophonists of our time. A musicians musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others. Wilson has eight recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar musicians as Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, Steve Nelson, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, Dennis Irwin, James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, Nicholas Payton, Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo and Bill Stewart.
In 2015 Wilson released his first project as a leader in 12 years, Steve Wilson & Wilsonians Grain: Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions, on Random Act Records. Recorded live at the famed Village Vanguard in NYC on May 24 & 25, 2014, the recording features Wilsons potent quartet with Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo and Bill Stewart. The CD was conceived to truly capture the live experience and the sound of one of the best listening rooms in the world. The tracking order reflects a Wilsonians Grain set, and includes three Wilson originals, and tunes by Orrin Evans, Joe Chambers, Thelonius Monk and Migiwa Miyajima. WBGO Radio describes Wilsonians Grain as jazz at its finest in conception, execution and spontaneity.
He has recorded another project, Sit Back Relax & Unwind, for JMI Records that features Ray Angry, Ben Williams and Willie Jones, III just recently released. In the vein of the old CTI recordings, it is an analog recording and will be released a vinyl LP only. Produced by Steven Mandel (Music Supervisor the The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots), he also contributed four tunes that were arranged by Wilson. There are two new tunes by Wilson and an arrangement by Ray Angry of David Bowies Space Oddity.
Starting his formal training on saxophone in his native Hampton, Virginia, Wilson also played oboe and drums in school bands while performing in various R&B/funk bands throughout his teens. After a year-long stint with singer Stephanie Mills he decided to major in music at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he performed and/or studied with Jimmy and Percy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Jaki Byard, John Hicks, Frank Foster and Ellis Marsalis. During those years he was also in constant demand for recording studio work, and as backing musician for touring shows such as The Four Tops and Sophisticated Ladies. Landing a chair with O.T.B (Out of the Blue), a sextet of promising young players recording on Blue Note Records, Wilson moved to New York in 1987 and the following year toured the U.S. and Europe with Lionel Hampton. Becoming a first-call choice for veteran and emerging artists alike, Wilson was the subject of a New York Times profile A Sidemans Life, highlighting his work with Ralph Peterson, Jr., Michele Rosewoman, Renee Rosnes, Marvin Smitty Smith, Joanne Brackeen, The American Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Leon Parker, and Buster Williams Quintet Something More. In 1996 he joined the acclaimed Dave Holland Quintet, and from 1998-2001 he was a member of Chick Coreas Grammy winning sextet Origin.
Cited by his peers in a New York Times poll as one of the artists most likely to break out as an established leader, Wilson recorded four CDs New York Summit, Step Lively, Blues for Marcus and Four For Time on the Criss Cross label. He then recorded two projects for Chick Coreas Stretch Records label Generations, his multi-generational quartet with Mulgrew Miller, Ray Drummond and Ben Riley and Passages which features his long-time musical partners Bruce Barth, Ed Howard and Adam Cruz, and special guest Nicholas Payton. Containing nine original compositions Passages established Wilson as a leader whose vision reveres the past, creates a soundscape of the present, and reaches toward the future.
In 2003 Wilsons recording Soulful Song was released on MAX JAZZ launching the labels Horn Series. It features special guest vocalists Rene Marie, Carla Cook, and Phillip Manuel and issues forth a powerful and provocative performance from these dynamic and versatile artists. As Wilson explains, Its a tribute Black radio, as it was called then, that was particularly inclusive in its programming and a galvanizing force in the community. On the same station one could hear R&B, jazz, blues, gospel, comedy, local news and affairs, and social commentary. In addition to new original material the program includes arrangements of songs by Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Abbey Lincoln, Gil Scott Heron, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patrice Rushen, and The Staple Singers.
Wilson was a member of the Blue Note 7, an all-star septet assembled to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2009. The project culminated in a successful 50-city tour of the U.S., and their recording Mosaic. Also that year Wilson made his orchestral debut performing Heitor Villa Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. By popular demand he returned to the VMF in 2010 performing a commissioned work Sweet For Duke for Saxophone & Chamber Orchestra by Jonathan Ragonese.
In February 2011 Wilson celebrated his 50th birthday with a six-night engagement, leading six different bands at Jazz Standard, NYCs premiere jazz club. The all-star line-up included Mulgrew Miller, Bruce Barth, Karrin Allyson, Lewis Nash, Jeff Tain Watts, Carla Cook, Geoffrey Keezer, Christian McBride, Linda Oh, Ed Howard, Adam Cruz, Diane Monroe, Joyce Hammann, Nardo Poy and Troy Stuart. In a major interview feature preview, the Wall Street Journal proclaimed, The Sideman Becomes the Star. The WSJ article by award-winning journalist Larry Blumenfeld added, Mr. Wilson is essential to this citys jazz landscape. Since the 1990s Wilson has been regularly cited in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone categories. The Jazz Journalists Association nominated him for Best Alto Sax Player in 2008, and for Best Soprano Sax Player in 2010. His work in film has included being artistic consultant to Harvey Keitel for “Lulu On The Bridge as well as being featured on the soundtrack.
Wilsons current projects reflect his multifaceted artistry, versatility, and associations with some of the most highly regarded artists on the scene. His quartet Wilsonians Grain, which consists of Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo, and Bill Stewart or Clarence Penn, has been featured on NPR live from the Kennedy Center and the Village Vanguard in New York City, and headlined at the prestigious Detroit Jazz Festival in 2011. Wilson is one-half of two dynamic duos, Musical Dialogue with renowned drummer Lewis Nash, they released their recording Duologue on MCG Jazz, and in another with pianist Bruce Barth as documented on their recording Home on the We Always Swing label. He co-leads an elegant trio with pianist Renee Rosnes and bassist Peter Washington, and with composer/arranger David ORourke has a repertoire as soloist with strings. Wilson is touring member of the Grammy-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Billy Childs Quartet, Christian McBride & Inside Straight as well as McBrides Grammy-winning Big Band, and the Buster Williams Quartet.
An in-demand and passionate educator Wilson is the Director of Jazz Studies and an Associate Professor of Music at City College of New York. In 2019 he joined the prestigious faculty at Ravinias Steans Music Institute in Chicago, IL.
He has been artist-in-residence and/or guest artist at University of Oregon, University of Michigan, University of Maryland-College Park, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Delaware, Lemoyne College, North Carolina Central University, Bowling Green University, Lafayette College, University of Northern Colorado, SUNY New Paltz, Florida State University, California State University at Stanislaus, University of Manitoba, Hamilton College, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and for the award winning arts organization CITYFOLK in Dayton, Ohio.
Steve Wilson (jazz musician)
Steve Wilson (born February 9, 1961) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, who is best known in the musical community as a flutist and an alto and soprano saxophonist. He also plays the clarinet and the piccolo. Wilson performs on many different instruments and has performed and recorded on over twenty-five albums. His interests include folk, jazz, classical, world music, and experimental music. Wilson is currently on the faculty of New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He was elected as an American Champion by the National Flute Association.[1] Wilson has maintained a busy career working as a session musician, and has contributed to many musicians of note both in the recording studios, but as a sideman on tours. Over the years he has participated in engagements with several musical ensembles, as well as his own solo efforts.
Wilson has not confined himself to the studio and stage. He has held teaching positions in several schools and universities, as well as holding jazz clinics.
Biography
As a teenager, Wilson played in rhythm and blues (R&B) and funk bands. After a year accompanying singer Stephanie Mills, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond where he majored in music. In 1987 he moved to New York City, where he established himself as a sideman. He performed with the American Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, and the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra. In 1988, he toured Europe with Lionel Hampton. Early in his career he was a member of Out of the Blue, a group which featured young artists signed to the Blue Note label.
Wilson was the subject of a 1996 New York Times profile, entitled "A Sideman's Life". That year he joined the Dave Holland Quintet. From 1998–2001, he was a member of Chick Corea's Origin sextet. He played and recorded on Japanese composer Yoko Kanno's debut album, Song to Fly and part of The Seatbelts' New York Musicians during that period.
In 1997, he formed the Steve Wilson Quartet with pianist Bruce Barth, double bassist Ed Howard, and drummer Adam Cruz. The group performed for over a decade and recorded two albums. He also headed a larger ensemble, Generations, which performed jazz and original compositions, and he has performed in a duo with drummer Lewis Nash.
In May 2007, he performed as a soloist for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during the Jamestown, Virginia quadricentennial. Wilson is on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, City College of New York, State University of New York at Purchase, and Columbia University. He has been an artist-in-residence at the University of North Carolina, Hamilton College, Old Dominion University, and with the CITYFOLK arts program in Dayton, Ohio.
A septet formed that year in honor of the imminent 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, entitled Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January until April 2009.[2] The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and Renee Rosnes.
In 2010, Wilson celebrated his 50th birthday at Jazz Standard in New York City. He led six bands in six nights, with jazz musicians that included Karrin Allyson, Bruce Barth, Adam Cruz, Carla Cook, Ed Howard, Lewis Nash, Ugonna Okegwo, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Freddie Hendrix, Christian McBride, Mulgrew Miller, Linda Oh, Geoffrey Keezer, and John Wikan. One special feature was the inclusion of a string section to play music from Bird with Strings. It was composed of Diane Monroe, Nardo Poy, Joyce Hammann, Chern Hwei, and Troy Stuart. The Wall Street Journal wrote a full-length feature article.
In 2017, Wilson released a vinyl LP titled Sit Back, Relax & Unwind which was recorded, mixed and mastered exclusively with analog technology. The band on the album was Ray Angry, Ben Williams and Willie Jones III and it was released by JMI Recordings.
Discography
As leader
- New York Summit (Criss Cross Jazz, 1991) with Mulgrew Miller, James Genus
- Step Lively (Criss Cross, 1993) with Cyrus Chestnut, Freddie Bryant, Dennis Irwin
- Generations (Stretch, 1998) with Mulgrew Miller, Ray Drummond
- Passages (Stretch, 1999) with Nicolas Payton, Bruce Barth, Ed Howard, Adam Cruz
- Soulful Song (Maxjazz, 2003) with Rene Marie, Carla Cook, Bruce Barth, Ed Howard, Adam Cruz
- Home (We Always Swing, 2010) Co-leader with Bruce Barth, Recorded Live in Columbia, MO
- Sit Back, Relax & Unwind (JMI Recordings 2017)
As sideman
- Carl Allen/Rodney Whitaker, Get Ready (Mack Avenue)
- Karrin Allyson, In Blue (Concord)
- Karrin Allyson, Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord)
- DMP Big Band, Tribute to Duke Ellington (DMP)
- DMP Big Band, Carved in Stone (DMP)
- Rob Bargad, Better Times(Criss Cross)
- Bruce Barth, Morning Call (Enja)
- Bruce Barth, In Focus (Enja)
- Bruce Barth, Hope Springs Eternal (Double Time)
- Bruce Barth, East and West (Maxjazz)
- Noah Baerman, Soul Force (Lemel)
- Louie Bellson, Live from NYC (Telarc)
- David Berkman, Handmade (Palmetto)
- David Berkman, Communication Theory (Palmetto)
- Chris Berger, Conversations (KSJazz)
- Paul Bollenback, Soul Grooves (Challenge Records)
- Jimmy Bosch, Singing Trombone (Ryko)
- Don Braden, After Dark (Criss Cross)
- Michael Brecker, Wide Angles (Verve)
- Donald Brown, Car Tunes (Muse)
- Donald Brown, Send One Our Love (Muse)
- Bill Bruford, Earthworks Underground Orchestra (Summerfold)
- Freddie Bryant, Take your Dance into Battle (Jazz City/Spirit)
- Freddie Bryant, Boogaloo Brasiliero, (Fresh Sound)
- Freddie Bryant, Kaleidoscope, (Fresh Sound)
- Laverne Butler, A Foolish Thing To Do (Maxjazz)
- Charlie Byrd, Louis, (Concord)
- Don Byron, Bug Music, (Nonesuch)
- Ron Carter, Great Big Band, (EMI)
- Billy Childs, Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (Sony Masterworks)
- Billy Childs, The Child Within, (Shanachie/Cachet)
- Avishai Cohen, Adama, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea, Corea Concerto, (Sony/Stretch) (Grammy Winner)
- Chick Corea, Rendezvous in New York, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea, Elektric Band: To The Stars, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea & Origin, Live at the Blue Note, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea & Origin, A Week at the Blue Note, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea & Origin, Change, (Stretch)
- Chick Corea & Origin, Originations, (Stretch)
- Roz Corral, Telling Tales, (Blu Jazz)
- Steve Davis, Portrait in Sound, (Stretch)
- Dena DeRose, Introducing Dena DeRose, (Amosaya)
- Dena DeRose, Another World, (Sharp Nine)
- Kenny Drew, Jr., Follow the Spirit, (Sirocco)
- George Duke, Duke, (BPM)
- Billy Drummond, Native Colours, (Criss Cross. 1992)
- Greg Gisbert, On Second Thought, (Criss Cross)
- Darrell Grant, Truth and Reconciliation, (Origin)
- Edsel Gomez, Cubist Music, (Zoho Music)
- Kevin Bruce Harris, Folk Songs/Folk Tales, (Enja)
- Stefon Harris, A Cloud of Red Dust, (Blue Note)
- Kevin Hays, El Matador, (Jazz City)
- David Hazeltine, How It Is, (Criss Cross)
- Joe Henderson, Big Band, Verve (Grammy Winner)
- Dave Holland, Points of View, ECM (Grammy Winner)
- Chie Imaizumi, A Time of New Beginnings, Capri Records
- Ingrid Jensen & Project O, Now As Then, Jig Records
- Ingrid Jensen, Vernal Fields, Enja
- Kelley Johnson, Make Someone Happy, Sapphire
- Ronnie Jordan, A Brighter Day, Blue Note/Angel
- Yoko Kanno, Song To Fly, Victor Entertainment
- Geoffrey Keezer, Falling Up, Maxjazz
- Jonny King, Meltdown, Enja
- Steve Kroon, El Mas Alla (Beyond, Kroonatune)
- Mike LeDonne, Tribute to Milt Jackson, Double-Time
- Victor Lewis, 3 Way Conversation, Red Records
- Dave Liebman, Classique, Owl
- Gunnar Mossblad, The Seasons Reflected Soul Note/CAM
- Didier Lockwood, Storyboard, Dreyfus
- Kevin Mahogany, Songs & Moments, Enja
- Pete Malinverni, Make A Joyful Noise, ArtistShare
- Mulgrew Miller, The Sequel, Maxjazz
- Allison Miller, 5AM, Stroll
- Foxhaven, Bill Mobley New Light Space Time
- Stephanie Mills Tantalizingly Hot 20th Century Fox
- Gunnar Mossblad, Convergence (Mossblad Music)
- Gunnar Mossblad & The Manhattan Sax Ensemble, The Dogwalk (GPC Recordings)
- Shunzo Ohno, Maya (Three Blind Mice)
- Junko Onishi, Junko Onishi (Nippon Crown)
- Leon Parker, Belief (Sony)
- Leon Parker, Awakening (Sony)
- Clarence Penn, Saomaye (Verve Japan)
- Ken Peplowski, A Good Reed (Concord)
- Ralph Peterson, Art of Blakey (Blue Note)
- Ralph Peterson, Reclamation Project (Evidence)
- Ralph Peterson, The Fo'tet Plays Monk (Evidence)
- Ralph Peterson, V (Blue Note)
- Ralph Peterson, Volition (Blue Note)
- Leslie Pintchik Quartets Ambient Records
- Mika Pohjola Northern Sunrise Blue Music Group
- Dianne Reeves, The Calling: A Tribute to Sarah Vaughn, Blue Note (Grammy Winner)
- Dianne Reeves, Christmas Time Is Here, Blue Note
- Renee Rosnes For The Moment, Blue Note
- Michele Rosewoman, Qunitessence/Harvest Enja
- Michele Rosewoman, Quintessence / Guardians of the Light Enja
- Maria Schneider, Sky Blue ArtistShare
- Loren Schoenberg, Manhattan Work Song Jazz Heritage
- Loren Schoenberg, Out of this World TCB Music
- David Schumacher, Another Life Amosaya
- Jae Sinnett, The Sinnett ngs J-Net Records
- Jae Sinnett, House and Sinnett PositiveMusic
- Neal Smith, Live at Smalls Smalls Live
- Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, Big Band Treasure-Live Smithsonian
- Terell Stafford, New Beginnings Maxjazz
- Terell Stafford, Time to Let Go Candid
- Bill Stewart, Telepathy Blue Note
- Joan Stiles, Hurly-Burly Oo-Bla-Dee
- Sunny Sumter, Getting to Know You J. Jordan Music
- Tom Varner, Swimming Omnitone Records
- Melissa Walker, Invitation to Love Enja
- Michael Weiss, Soul Journey Sintra Records
- Scott Wendholt, From Now On Criss Cross
- Buster Williams, Joined at the Hip TCB
- James Williams Jazz Dialogues, Vol. 1, Will Power (Finas Music)
- James Williams Jazz Dialogues, Vol. 4, Music For A While (Finas Music)
- James Williams & ICU, Truth, Justice & the Blues (Evidence)
- James Williams & ICU, We've Got What You Need (Evidence)
- James Williams Quintet, Live at Mills Hall (La Dome)
- Michael Wolff, Joe's Strut (Wrong Records)
- Anthony Wonsey, Exodus (Alfa Jazz, 1996)
- Gerald Wilson, In My Time (Mack Avenue, 2005)
- Gerald Wilson, Monterey Moods (Mack Avenue, 2007)
- Kenny Barron, The Traveler (Sunnyside, 2008)
- Gerald Wilson, Detroit (Mack Avenue, 2009)
- Yōsuke Yamashita, Field of Grooves (Verve, 2009)
- Christian McBride, Kind of Brown (Mack Avenue, 2009)
- Miho Hazama, Journey to Journey (Verve, 2012)
- Christian McBride, Bringin' It (Mack Avenue, 2017)
References:
Wilson, Steve (2011). "Steve Wilson music biography". Official website/biography section. JazzCorner.com. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
External links:
- Jazz Corner - Steve Wilson
- Steve Wilson on Blue Music Group
- Jazz News - Steve Wilson: Band Leader, Sideman, Historian, Educator, "Jazz Master"
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102700887
Steve Wilson: A First-Call Saxophonist
Personnel
Steve Wilson, alto and soprano saxophone
Orrin Evans, piano and Fender Rhodes
Ugonna Okegwo, bass
Bill Stewart, drums
Steve Wilson: A First-Call Saxophonist
Set List
"Tap Dancer" (Gary Bartz)
"Spot It, You Got It" (Orrin Evans)
"Chrysalis" (Steve Wilson)
"Ms. Angelou" (Steve Wilson)
"Step Lively" (Steve Wilson)
"Q-B-Rab" (Steve Wilson)
Steve Wilson. Photo by John Abbott
Steve Wilson is one of the finest saxophonists in the business: He'swhat musicians label a "first call" player. If you have a session coming up and you want great alto and soprano sax work, Wilson is your man. Many have called; Wilson has played on more than 100 albums, and he's a key member of Grammy-winning groups such as the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dave Holland Sextet and Chick Corea's Origin.
Wilson grew up in Virginia and earned a music scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he performed and studied with Lionel Hampton, the Heath Brothers and Ellis Marsalis. Eventually, the saxophonist made his way to New York and hooked up with some other talented young up-and-comers in the O.T.B. (a.k.a. Out of the Blue) band, organized by Blue Note records. Wilson is also a member of the all-star ensemble Blue Note 7, which is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the label in 2009.
Recently, Wilson advised University of Maryland students to "think of yourself as more than a jazz musician; be versatile and skilled — not just as an improviser, but as a musician who can perform in a variety of settings."
Wilson's own approach depends on his musicianship, on display during a visit to the KC Jazz Club at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Here, the saxophonist steps out with his new band, Wilsonian's Grain, which features pianist Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Bill Stewart on drums — all long-time friends.
Wilson typically supplies the music: "Tap Dancer" is rhythmic and quirky, while "Spot It" is more sweet. Other tunes such as "Chrysalis" and "Ms. Angelou" are meditative, featuring Wilson on soprano with Evans on a Fender Rhodes electric piano. Finally, "Step Lively" makes clear what happens if you don't watch the closing doors on the New York City subway.
Credits: Thanks to Kevin Struthers and Jean Thill of the Kennedy Center, as well as field producer and writer Mark Schramm; mix by Duke Markos with Big Mo Recording, Greg Hartman and Sean Owen.
Web Resources
http://jazzmuseuminharlem.org/events/steve-wilson-saxophonist/
Steve Wilson, Saxophonist
Harlem Speaks
Steve Wilson's creativity on alto saxophonist and dependability as a musical professional has allowed him to carve a prominent position on the bandstand and in the studio with the greatest names in jazz, as well as critical acclaim as a bandleader in his own right. A musician's musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others. Wilson has seven recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar musicians as Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, Steve Nelson, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, Dennis Irwin, James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, and Nicholas Payton.
A native of Hampton, Virginia, Wilson began his formal training at age 12. Playing saxophone, oboe, and drums in school bands, he also played in various R&B and funk bands throughout his teens, and went on to a year-long stint with singer Stephanie Mills. He then decided to major in music at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, affording him opportunities to perform and/or study with Jimmy and Percy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Jaki Byard, John Hicks, Frank Foster and Ellis Marsalis. In 1986, he landed a chair with O.T.B (Out of the Blue), a sextet of promising young players recording on Blue Note Records. In 1987 he moved to New York and the following year toured the US and Europe with Lionel Hampton. Becoming a first-call choice for veteran and emerging artists alike, Wilson was the subject of a New York Times profile "A Sideman's Life", highlighting his work with Ralph Peterson, Jr., Michele Rosewoman, Renee Rosnes, Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Joanne Brackeen, The American Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Leon Parker, and Buster Williams' Quintet "Something More". In 1996 he joined the acclaimed Dave Holland Quintet, and from 1998-2001 he was a member of Chick Corea's Grammy winning sextet "Origin".
Wilson was a featured guest with Dr. Billy Taylor in his series "Jazz at the Kennedy Center" which is broadcast on NPR. He was artistic consultant to Harvey Keitel for the film "Lulu On The Bridge" as well as being featured on the soundtrack. He has been Artist-In-Residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton College, Old Dominion University, and for the 2002/2003 season with the award winning arts organization CITYFOLK in Dayton, Ohio which included the performance of a commissioned work. He has been a featured performer, panelist, and clinician at conferences of the International Association of Jazz Educators, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and Chamber Music of America. Wilson was honored with the Marc Crawford Jazz Educator Award from New York University in 2001, and the Virginia Jazz Award 2003 Musician of the Year presented by the Richmond Jazz Society, recognizing his outstanding service in the advancement of jazz and education in their respective communities. Since 1997 he has been regularly cited in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone categories.
Wilson continues to tour with the Steve Wilson Quartet and Generations as well as National Jazz Museum in Harlem co-director Christian McBride's group Inside Straight. He also performs in duo with his long-time friend and colleague Lewis Nash, in the Lewis Nash/Steve Wilson Duo. He is also a touring member of the Grammy winning Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, The Buster Williams Quartet, and Mulgrew Miller's Wingspan. In July 2009, Wilson made his orchestral debut performing the Villa Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra, conducted by Gil Shohat, at the Vermont Mozart Festival in Burlington, VT.
Wilson is on the faculty at The Manhattan School of Music, SUNY Purchase, and Columbia University, and is the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (Canada) for the 2008/2009 school year.
https://www.stevewilsonmusic.com/biography.php 
YAMAHA SAXOPHONES
ALTO - Custom 82Z II
SOPRANO - Yamaha 62R, Custom 82Z, and 875
FLUTES
Muramatsu C Flute
Trevor James Alto Flute
diMedici Bass Flute
Weissman-McKenna Piccolo
CLARINET
Buffet R-13
VANDOREN
Mouthpieces, Reeds, and Ligatures
Alto A6 w/ Java Red #2.5, 3
Soprano S7 w/ V16 #2.5, 3
Clarinet 5RV w/ Rue Lepic #3, 3.5;
Leather ligatures on all
“The Sideman Becomes the Star”
“Mr. Wilson is essential to this city's jazz landscape”- Wall Street Journal
“Mr. Wilson is an endlessly adaptable alto and soprano saxophonist, at home in myriad settings.”- New York Times
“One of the finest saxophonists in the business”- NPR 
Steve Wilson has attained ubiquitous status in the studio and on the stage with the greatest names in jazz. A bandleader in his own right, Jazz Times calls him the consummate saxophonist-composer and one of the finest alto and soprano saxophonists of our time. A musicians musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others. Wilson has eight recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar musicians as Lewis Nash, Carl Allen, Steve Nelson, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, Dennis Irwin, James Genus, Larry Grenadier, Ray Drummond, Ben Riley, Nicholas Payton, Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo and Bill Stewart.
In 2015 Wilson released his first project as a leader in 12 years, Steve Wilson & Wilsonians Grain: Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions, on Random Act Records. Recorded live at the famed Village Vanguard in NYC on May 24 & 25, 2014, the recording features Wilsons potent quartet with Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo and Bill Stewart. The CD was conceived to truly capture the live experience and the sound of one of the best listening rooms in the world. The tracking order reflects a Wilsonians Grain set, and includes three Wilson originals, and tunes by Orrin Evans, Joe Chambers, Thelonius Monk and Migiwa Miyajima. WBGO Radio describes Wilsonians Grain as jazz at its finest in conception, execution and spontaneity.
He has recorded another project, Sit Back Relax & Unwind, for JMI Records that features Ray Angry, Ben Williams and Willie Jones, III just recently released. In the vein of the old CTI recordings, it is an analog recording and will be released a vinyl LP only. Produced by Steven Mandel (Music Supervisor the The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots), he also contributed four tunes that were arranged by Wilson. There are two new tunes by Wilson and an arrangement by Ray Angry of David Bowies Space Oddity.
Starting his formal training on saxophone in his native Hampton, Virginia, Wilson also played oboe and drums in school bands while performing in various R&B/funk bands throughout his teens. After a year-long stint with singer Stephanie Mills he decided to major in music at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he performed and/or studied with Jimmy and Percy Heath, Jon Hendricks, Jaki Byard, John Hicks, Frank Foster and Ellis Marsalis. During those years he was also in constant demand for recording studio work, and as backing musician for touring shows such as The Four Tops and Sophisticated Ladies. Landing a chair with O.T.B (Out of the Blue), a sextet of promising young players recording on Blue Note Records, Wilson moved to New York in 1987 and the following year toured the U.S. and Europe with Lionel Hampton. Becoming a first-call choice for veteran and emerging artists alike, Wilson was the subject of a New York Times profile A Sidemans Life, highlighting his work with Ralph Peterson, Jr., Michele Rosewoman, Renee Rosnes, Marvin Smitty Smith, Joanne Brackeen, The American Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Leon Parker, and Buster Williams Quintet Something More. In 1996 he joined the acclaimed Dave Holland Quintet, and from 1998-2001 he was a member of Chick Coreas Grammy winning sextet Origin.
Cited by his peers in a New York Times poll as one of the artists most likely to break out as an established leader, Wilson recorded four CDs New York Summit, Step Lively, Blues for Marcus and Four For Time on the Criss Cross label. He then recorded two projects for Chick Coreas Stretch Records label Generations, his multi-generational quartet with Mulgrew Miller, Ray Drummond and Ben Riley and Passages which features his long-time musical partners Bruce Barth, Ed Howard and Adam Cruz, and special guest Nicholas Payton. Containing nine original compositions Passages established Wilson as a leader whose vision reveres the past, creates a soundscape of the present, and reaches toward the future.
In 2003 Wilsons recording Soulful Song was released on MAX JAZZ launching the labels Horn Series. It features special guest vocalists Rene Marie, Carla Cook, and Phillip Manuel and issues forth a powerful and provocative performance from these dynamic and versatile artists. As Wilson explains, Its a tribute Black radio, as it was called then, that was particularly inclusive in its programming and a galvanizing force in the community. On the same station one could hear R&B, jazz, blues, gospel, comedy, local news and affairs, and social commentary. In addition to new original material the program includes arrangements of songs by Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Abbey Lincoln, Gil Scott Heron, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patrice Rushen, and The Staple Singers.
Wilson was a member of the Blue Note 7, an all-star septet assembled to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2009. The project culminated in a successful 50-city tour of the U.S., and their recording Mosaic. Also that year Wilson made his orchestral debut performing Heitor Villa Lobos Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. By popular demand he returned to the VMF in 2010 performing a commissioned work Sweet For Duke for Saxophone & Chamber Orchestra by Jonathan Ragonese.
In February 2011 Wilson celebrated his 50th birthday with a six-night engagement, leading six different bands at Jazz Standard, NYCs premiere jazz club. The all-star line-up included Mulgrew Miller, Bruce Barth, Karrin Allyson, Lewis Nash, Jeff Tain Watts, Carla Cook, Geoffrey Keezer, Christian McBride, Linda Oh, Ed Howard, Adam Cruz, Diane Monroe, Joyce Hammann, Nardo Poy and Troy Stuart. In a major interview feature preview, the Wall Street Journal proclaimed, The Sideman Becomes the Star. The WSJ article by award-winning journalist Larry Blumenfeld added, Mr. Wilson is essential to this citys jazz landscape. Since the 1990s Wilson has been regularly cited in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone categories. The Jazz Journalists Association nominated him for Best Alto Sax Player in 2008, and for Best Soprano Sax Player in 2010. His work in film has included being artistic consultant to Harvey Keitel for "Lulu On The Bridge as well as being featured on the soundtrack.
Wilsons current projects reflect his multifaceted artistry, versatility, and associations with some of the most highly regarded artists on the scene. His quartet Wilsonians Grain, which consists of Orrin Evans, Ugonna Okegwo, and Bill Stewart or Clarence Penn, has been featured on NPR live from the Kennedy Center and the Village Vanguard in New York City, and headlined at the prestigious Detroit Jazz Festival in 2011. Wilson is one-half of two dynamic duos, Musical Dialogue with renowned drummer Lewis Nash, they released their recording Duologue on MCG Jazz, and in another with pianist Bruce Barth as documented on their recording Home on the We Always Swing label. He co-leads an elegant trio with pianist Renee Rosnes and bassist Peter Washington, and with composer/arranger David ORourke has a repertoire as soloist with strings. Wilson is touring member of the Grammy-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Billy Childs Quartet, Christian McBride & Inside Straight as well as McBrides Grammy-winning Big Band, and the Buster Williams Quartet.
An in-demand and passionate educator Wilson is the Director of Jazz Studies and an Associate Professor of Music at City College of New York. In 2019 he joined the prestigious faculty at Ravinias Steans Music Institute in Chicago, IL.
He has been artist-in-residence and/or guest artist at University of Oregon, University of Michigan, University of Maryland-College Park, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Delaware, Lemoyne College, North Carolina Central University, Bowling Green University, Lafayette College, University of Northern Colorado, SUNY New Paltz, Florida State University, California State University at Stanislaus, University of Manitoba, Hamilton College, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and for the award winning arts organization CITYFOLK in Dayton, Ohio.
With the support of friend and mentor Dr. Billy Taylor, Wilson has been a frequent guest performer/educator at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He has been a featured performer, panelist, and clinician at conferences of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Chamber Music of America, and International Association of Jazz Educators. Wilson was honored with the Marc Crawford Jazz Educator Award from New York University 2001 and the Virginia Jazz Award 2003 Musician of the Year presented by the Richmond Jazz Society, recognizing his outstanding service in the advancement of jazz and education in their respective communities. He is an active mentor in the nurturing and promotion of his former students emerging careers who have performed with The Count Basie Orchestra, Johnny Mandel, Beyonce Knowles, Roy Hargrove, and many others.
Saxophonist Steve Wilson on his musical education & development
https://hardbopjazzjournal.wordpress.com/about/interview-with-steve-wilson-saxophonist-composer-educator/
Interview with Steve Wilson
Saxophonist, Composer, Educator
I first met Steve in Tallahassee, Florida in October 2009 for The Cannonball Adderley Festival. His generosity combined with his sheer talent and rich language on the saxophone easily makes him one of the baddest musicians I have ever met. I was even more humbled when he agreed to meet in his apartment in Summer 2010 for a charming interview. Over berries and water we discussed a number of topics from growing up in the afro-centric 1970’s to his monstrous tour with The Blue Note 7.
AA: You said once that there is a “necessary duality in jazz. It is inclusion music but in order for it to be jazz it needs to address elements such as blues, swing and African elements because that’s what makes it what it is and it’s the spiritual foundation of the music that gives it its roots.” Jazz and poetry also have a duality in that they are both related. When the combination of the two is addressed, is it inherently good for jazz or poetry for or does it propose conflict of interest? To use poetry in one’s music, are you responsible to understanding as much of the poetry’s history as the music? Is the reason why a jazz musician may not gravitate towards poetry a result of the nature of jazz and its tendency to preserve the roots while progress the art of the music so much so that poetry is left in the dust?
SW: Probably yes in terms of a lot of jazz musicians having not done enough research or collaboration with poetry or poets, although there is a rich tradition of the two coming together. It goes back. It’s not something that started in the 50’s with the beatniks. It goes back even further. Even at the very foundation of the music, the blues. Before the blues became a codified form of music, when it was work songs. Right there, we have the genesis of it in terms of telling a story. In terms of where we are now, I know quite a few musicians who are working with spoken word and poetry. But I think it would benefit poets and musicians to look into the foundations of both art forms. They are related and we are talking about the same tradition, for all intents and purposes, in terms of how the art forms formulated in America. It’s a continuation of African art forms, the grillos. Certainly there is a connection there. It would behoove us on both sides to research the foundation and history.
I worked with a few poets intermittently, nothing on a steady basis. I think the first time I ever did something it was over at the Nuyorican when I was working with Leon Parker back in the early/mid 90’s. We were the house band and would play a groove or a tune. It was fun to improvise around their words, or their rhythm or their inflection. It was very hip and it put you in a different musical space. I did a record with Kevin Bruce Harris he had wonderful poet on his record Tracie Morris, I remember she had this tune she did called “Skin”, very hip. I personally would love to do more of that in terms of expanding my musical and expressive and artistic palette. I would love to do more of it. There’s a history of it, I mean talking about Amiri Baraka, whose ex-wife lives at the end of my block. When he talks about the music, he really knows the music and brings all of that history into his words. I think it is incumbent among the musicians and the poets to do that research. Also, there’s Ornette Coleman’s ex-wife Jane Cortez. And someone I loved to listen to growing up, believe it or not she used to be on TV in the early mid-70s, is Nikki Giovanni. There was a show on public television called “Soul” by Ellis Hanzlip who would present poets, writers and musicians. It was during the “afro-centric” era of the 70’s. This was on weekly and we turned it on, and there it was. That’s how I got hip to Nikki Giovnni. She would speak history and experience, as she knew it, and how we knew it. It was present tense and it resonated. There was a certain rhythm and inflection to what she does that is beautiful and musical.
AA: And that’s another thing about poetry is that, the poetry of today is about today. It was written today. You go to the Nuyorican you’re going to hear a poem that was written today. Jazz music could thrive in that setting because it would force musicians to progress at a more intensified rate. I believe that these traditions are important but at the same time it’s important to be exploring new mediums. Both could benefit from the idea of remaining fresh.
SW: That was the fun part about doing the Nuyorican and I credit Leon for getting me to think outside the box because he was an “outside of the box” kind of artist.
AA: How did you approach it?
SW: It was totally spontaneous because even though we were the back-up band. It wasn’t like we were going in their for a performance with a set-list for a given poet. We didn’t know what was going to happen, we didn’t know what they were going to say, it was total improvisation in that we had to vibe on what the poet was talking about. So maybe if the poet introduced the title, would set up the groove, set the mood and just go with the words that he or she was speaking. We were totally on vibe and so you can bring that element into a performance, even if you have stuff that’s worked out and rehearsed. You have to nurture that sense of creativity and spontaneity and bring that element into a performance even when you have stuff that’s worked out and rehearsed. You have to keep that antenna up all the time. To me, in the forefront of the music in such music as Charles Mingus, Roland Kirk, Ellington, the best of jazz has it. Even if you have this refined art form, you still have this element that is raw and that’s totally in the moment and that’s what makes the music what it is, what makes it unique.
AA: Elasticity as well, that’s what also draws me in.
SW: When you talk about Roland Kirk or
even Booker Ervin. They have such a speech element in their playing.
Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Bird, Lee Morgan…they have this lyrical element
in their playing, a storytelling. When I hear Booker Ervin in particular
who has the wails and cries in his sound. Billy Harper’s like that too.
AA: When you’re performing with the poets, how often do they leave
space? Are they producing a stream of consciousness? I’ve read archives
from sessions in the 50’s the poet would be the main actor and the band
was just an extra add-on. Do you feel a unity on the Nuyorican stage? Where do you feel like your place is?
SW: It depends on the poet. Some poets would be in the stream of consciousness while others would have a certain rhythm that naturally interacted with the group. Others were accustomed to working with musicians and understood the use of inflection, rhythm and space. From what I remember, it varied; we were mostly a background thing, which was fine. It’s that way a vocalist sometimes. Sometimes they don’t want to interact with the band and other vocalists want the band to contribute. It varies, even some lead instrumentalists. When they get a back-up band they get a back-up band, they want the band to stay in the back. Others want the band to be a part of the main sound.
AA: Do you think that particularly in the New York, the jazz has influenced the poets that are reading? With hip-hop and spoken word, are you also a believer in jazz’s influence on hip-hop?
SW: Totally. Oh yeah. Guru would sample Blue Note and he had some present day jazz musicians he collaborated with like Ron Carter and Kenny Garrett. In New York, this is the place where all that stuff comes together. There are other places where it does, I’m not saying New York is the only place but when you look at the geographical layout of New York, it’s concentrated as opposed to places like LA and Atlanta. Here, it’s a naturally concentrated urban setting so you’re naturally going to get cross-fertilization.
I wanted to mention Weldon Irvine, who died in 2002, and was a real pioneer. He was from my hometown of Hampton, Virginia. He was the composer of “Young, Gifted & Black” which was an African-American anthem in the late 60’s and 70’s and made famous by Nina Simone. Weldon Irvine lived in Queens and he nurtured people like Lenny White, Tom Brown, Bernard Wright, Marcus Miller…all the Jamaican guys. He was amazing in all music, not just jazz. In R&B, gospel, hip-hop and he was one of the first musicians that really embraced the hip-hop scene and began to infuse his music, and compose his music to employ hip-hop artists and musicians I mean one of the first jazz musicians in that scene. He was a real pioneer. I met him when I was in my teens, and he was already in his 40’s at that time. He was talking about that stuff then, this was 1979. He was talking about that stuff then! We’re talking 40 years ago. He was right on the forefront. If you get to speak to guys like Lenny White or Marcus Miller, ask them. When I got to see him later after I moved to New York, he was working on plays, different hip-hop project that would encompass everyone.
There’s a show called World Famous Lessons in Jazz and its produced by a guy name Kevin Anderson. Their whole purpose is to draw together the elements of hip-hop and jazz and they played jazz recordings and hip hope recordings and everything in between. When I first met Kevin about 10 years ago, I heard and saw the stuff he was doing and I told him about Weldon. I think two or three years after Weldon’s passing they did a tribute to him. They had Lenny and Marcus down there all talking about his contributions it was great to make the community aware of him because he was pulling all of these disciplines together, poets, jazz artists, hip-hop artists, R&B.
AA: I wanted to shift to the topic of journalism in jazz. I know that the Jazz Journalists Association nominated you last year for Soprano Saxophonist of the Year. What are the effects of journalism, with its changing tides and the reduction of credibility, on the topic of jazz journalism? Where is the future of jazz journalism as the magazines that shaped the music in the 60’s begin to fall down?
SW: That’s a good question, man and it’s a loaded question and a loaded answer. I’ve got two anecdotes. I got an email from a good friend of mine about two weeks ago who just so happens to be a killin’ alto player. He sent me this email about a journalist employed by Downbeat praising this artist because he was in the critic’s poll. This artist is one of the best alto saxophonists around and has been for a long time. This critic was praising him and writing him up…as a tenor saxophonist and while citing the recording where he is only playing alto and soprano. I thought it could be a “type-o” but then I thought, “No, it can’t be because he is referencing the recording”. I’ve seen this in my own instance when a journalist is giving praise, giving words to the music and I read it and think “is that what I was doing? You know! I didn’t know I was thinking about that”. Another quick anecdote, I heard something on NPR. It was on how we have so many blogs and it seems that anybody can get a blog and now because of this information age and the Internet, it’s a two-sided coin. You can get information and critiques instantaneously and at the same time how much of that is going to be creditable. At the same time, you can get something out there reporting something then someone could post something 5 minutes later completely disproving it. I don’t know, man, it’s really up in the air. I know some good writers and some credible journalists who really know the music and who understand the art. Then there are others who are complete jive.
AA: They won’t be remembered in the scheme of things.
SW: I hope that you’re right. Depending on whom they align themselves with politically they could get the form that someone with much more credibility would deserve. We’ve seen it happen on different levels. It’s up in the air.
AA: Also, is the jazz audience engaged in the “blog” world? There are tons of jazz blogs out there.
SW: I think that it has gradations of involvement. I think people who want to be really into that will, and those who don’t give a damn will take it with a grain of salt. I am flattered to be acknowledged for my work whether it is by a fan, critic, musician, journalist; I am very humbled by it in general. At the same time, a journalists or critics view of what I’m doing or what I’ve done doesn’t define me as an artist. At the end of the day, it’s just one perspective, one opinion. If they agree with what I do, great, if they don’t great.
AA: And at the end of the day, the music stands alone. It’s not you, or what you’ve done that month or how well it’s done, it’s the music.
SW: Exactly. We’ll see. I think its great to discuss it.
AA: I saw an interview with you and Howard Mandel a discussion on class division in jazz. There are certain jazz musicians who were driven by class struggle and political drive such as Max Roach and Sonny Rollins. There are those doing it now such as Vijay Iyar and Mike Ladd. Do you think that jazz as a tonal and musical language conveys the progression or a social commentary of a society. Do you think using instrumental music only, the music can represent how you felt because you are you and you are today?
SW: I think its naive to think that only the music, instrumentally particularly, can speak to the masses because we know that it doesn’t in terms of a pop-cultural level. We need the spoken word and the vocalist who can articulate it eloquently, not always with a sweetness, sometimes its got to be in your face its got to be blunt. Other times its got to be the way Duke Ellington or Charles Mingus did it. Or the way that Max Roach or Sonny Rollins and the “Freedom Now Suite.” We need all of it. We have gradations of connections with this music in terms of the masses. Some people can really get the music and just need that, and some need to latch onto something else. We don’t all get to this music through the front door. It’s not like the average person will wake up and hear Charlie Parker and go: “oh that’s it, what a revelation!” that doesn’t happen to 99% of people, they find some other connection that gets them into the music then they come deeper. And that happened to me and we need all of it. It all serves a purpose, it’s all a part of means of expression, it’s all a part of the wonderful kaleidoscope of expression we have within this music. We need all of it.
AA: …to convey the message. There’s a message in this music. That’s what keeps it fresh and allows young listeners to latch onto it. Then again, these are new times we are in and jazz might need to catch up.
SW: It needs to be aware of where we are.
AA: Max and Sonny knew!
SW: We now live in such a P.C culture. Can you imagine a “Freedom Now Suite” being done now? The backlash! If “Freedom Now Suite” was done in present tense, because of the information age, the Internet…even if you go onto any newspaper online and you read the comments. You will see the most vile stuff, it’s so out and you see the level of hate that is really beneath the surface. If you can imagine a “Freedom Now Suite” being done now, when it’s really put out there, you can imagine the backlash. I think we need it now more than ever. We can get too comfortable sometimes. The tendency now is: “I want to say this but I want to be P.C. because I don’t want to ruffle any feather and I want my message to be heard. I want to open up some eyes, I don’t want to close them.”
AA: I want to maximize my audience potential.
SW: Yeah, and its tricky now because everyone is so sensitized to being P.C. It’s a tricky balance. It’s different than it was in the 70’s.
AA: But we have a war going on! It doesn’t make sense.
SW: [laughs] Yeah, right! But we’re also in the midst of a cultural war, well let’s not call it that, lets call it a conflict, a cultural conflict. Without being P.C I would call it a conflict. I call it the “American Idol” syndrome whereas mediocrity is accepted as the standard barer now. In order for one to become famous, either at acting or any of the “pop” arts you need no qualifications now. If you have a notion to sing in your shower, get on American idol. If you’re a singer or a hip-hop artist, now you’re qualified to be an actor, you don’t have to go to Lee Strasberg or go to acting school. Just sign up! This is where we are now. In effect this has brought the standard down. The evidence in there, look at the actors of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, take James Cagney, who could do it all, man. Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr. and go down the list. They were versatile. They were artists. Now it’s a different standard, has it gotten better, it has not. That’s where we are with that, that’s why I call it the cultural conflict.
AA: I don’t know how we’ll get out because what you’re describing is a slippery slope because of the Internet.
SW: And because the corporations are running everything, they are setting the tone. Unless there’s a real populist movement, which I don’t see happening. Its very slick how they do it. They run American Idol, those commercials that they are running in between, they’re going to be running products that they want the masses to buy so they keep us pacified in a number of different ways, man, and keep us desensitized with such things as the 24-hour news cycle to get us to buy into the emotional hype. At the end of the day, by the time the average person has watched 10-12 hours of television they have been bombarded with stuff and haven’t looked beneath the surface. Plus with the fact that over the last 30 years or so with education with the American education system. We don’t’ know our history. Little by little they’ve taken away a lot of that history and unless an individual goes out and does the research to understand the history they’re not going to have the wherewith all to ask “how did we get here?” all they know is “here”. They don’t ever know to ask, “now, where was there? And how did we get here”. It’s a vacuum.
AA: You are in the network of education and it’s all around you.
SW: It’s something we talk about all the time. I tell students in my master classes, especially the non-music students. I pose the question: “jazz, why should I care?” Which is a fair question to ask. What I get around to is that it’s uniquely American music and when you research this music you will be researching this history of this nation, therefore researching the history of this nation and the history of your ancestors and that this music is made up of many different cultural elements that came together on this soil. If you really want to understand the history of this country and how we go to where we are, where we came from as a nation, go and study the history of jazz because it will take you all the way back.
AA: The saxophone itself, let’s chat about your progression as a player. You’ve performed twice with the Mozart Festival orchestra. That’s a different setting for you and its good to see the versatility of a jazz sax player. I respect that value of your playing so much and was wondering whether you thought that was missing from younger players.
Steve Wilson With the VMF (Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra)-Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone (Villa Lobos):
SW: I am still learning classical repertoire. I studied one year of classical saxophone at Virginia Commonwealth University. It was mandatory to do it as an instrumental major, and I didn’t take it as seriously then, though I got a lot out of it on the technical level. It taught me a lot about the instrument, the sound, and the value of tone, intonation, and the right kind of embouchure. Only in the last 2-3 years, I’ve begun to look at the classical stuff. I am still discovering. It wasn’t until the invitation to the Mozart Festival when they requested that I play a classical piece with the orchestra. I was like “man, I don’t do that, there are plenty of guys that do that great.” So I chose the Villa-Lobos because it spoke to me artistically, musically it spoke to me more than the other traditional classical repertoire and it was closer to the jazz element. Also, because I could play soprano on it, classical alto is really hard, though Branford Marsalis is doing some great stuff on classical alto and there’s this other guy out of D.C, Charlie Young, who is a killin’ jazz player who has been playing some great classical alto. The value is that it really teaches you the instrument and makes you aware of finer points with tone and intonation so when you hear that record with Cannonball Adderley with strings and it’s not cutting edge, some say its corny but his tone! It’s pristine. He refined it even more to fit the setting. I’m really trying to be in this classical context. I can’t do things that won’t fit into that context. When I step out of it and come back to the things that I do in jazz and improvisatory music. It makes me aware now so when I go to play something I may go “oh, I got to watch my intonation”. I actually had my instruments adjusted and I figured out that how I had my horn set up was conducive to the intonation I wanted. When I came back to the jazz idiom now I find that I can play more easily in tune. I have had a pretty good embouchure for the last 20 years but now I realize the little thing like: “I cant have that key too open, so I don’t have to lip down. I remember hearing Wynton say a few years ago, when he was playing the Haydn trumpet Concerto. He said to me, “man it’s just more music.” And that’s what it is to me. If I’m into it, I’m into it. And it has its own discipline that you have to respect but I wont go as far as to say adhere to. I think that once you master the nature and the intent of composer and the nature of the piece and to me it’s just more music. Classical music is more exacting, much more than jazz in terms of execution but that can enhance ones jazz playing. They can compliment each other if we can allow them to; it’s all about attitude. I tell students wind players to take advantage of every situation at school. To sax players I ask them to get your doubling together by studying, get in the clarinet choir or the symphonic wind band, the same thing if you’re studying flute, give yourself a different musical experience on that instrument so that you learn that instrument and learn how to really play it so that when you go to play a Jimmy Hamilton part on some Ellington stuff, you go “oh, OK, BOOM”. Well maybe that’s a stretch because Jimmy Hamilton’s stuff is pretty hard…but that’s the deal. When the flute or clarinet part comes up in big band it’s not a big deal, you’re not scared of it.
AA: Now let’s shift gears a bit and talk about the tour you went on with the Blue Note 7 group. That was a culmination band of incredible musician from separately successful careers. You performed your own arrangements of Blue Note compositions. You arranged “Criss Cross” one of my favorite Monk tunes. What was it like working and touring with that band?
SW: First off, it was one of the best tours that I’ve ever done. Everything from top to bottom, they way the tour was put together, the music, the musicians, the attitudes, collectively and individually attitudes among the best I’ve ever experienced because everyone really gave themselves to the music. It was a very selfless band. It was an all-star band but it really became a band. We actually tried to keep it going past the initial tour but things just didn’t come together logistically and business wise for it to happen. I took away a lot. The level of musicianship was incredible. Every night the band was on and I literally felt like it raised my level every night and that’s the best place to be. When you look around you and every player has something that you can get night after night that boosts you up. That’s the best of all possible worlds, man. I was surrounded by giants! To have that within a collective, that’s a very rare thing. There’s no dead weight. Everybody was really there for the music and each other. We spread the solos around every night; it was a completely democratic situation. Even thought Bill Charlap was more or less the musical director, or as he called himself the “guiding force”, he didn’t like the term MD, he was like the pilot of the ship. Also, rediscovering some of the music we had in the book and then hearing these new arrangements on the music. Within the arrangements, to hear everybody’s personal story and experience, you can hear elements of funk, Latin, R&B, soul, classical, avant-garde, that way you can hear everyone’s collective experience brought to the fold, which gave a new look to the music. It was really interesting to hear everyone’s musical story. I got to know everyone better personally; we already knew each other but to be on the road. Those interpersonal relationships filtered their way into the music because there was a certain trust factor. Even on the nights when things felt a little off, there was never a bad night. Every night was great musically, no matter what. The biggest things and the most important things is that it was reaffirming in that this music has a real place, real fan base and a real core audience. We traveled to places like Norman, Oklahoma, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Claremont Falls, Oregon and other places in the Midwest that were not just major cities. With maybe the exception of two or three concerts if that, every concert was pretty full if not, sold out. The best audiences, I can see as if it were yesterday, were Norman. Oklahoma, Sioux Falls, we played Boulder and it was like a rock concert and they were screaming and I was like WOW. So it was reaffirming man, and then to see integrated faces and meet people from different social economic statuses…this music has a fan base that crosses all that. Fifty cities, by bus across America is unheard of for a jazz-group these days. To see this music has an audience and that people are hungry for it and they wanted and they were there and they appreciated it and vocal about it! For people who say jazz is dead, what relevance does it have? I can tell you that it is there and has real support and there are people out there who are digging it. Is it going to be the million people who watch the American Music Awards on TV? No. But there is a group of people in this country that really identify with this music and they are turning on new people to it, turning on youngsters to it.
AA: That’s beautiful, man.
SW: It is and that was the most important thing that I took from that tour.
AA: It’s humbling to see people out there…
SW: It’s given me a renewed sense of purpose. Not that I ever lost it but to see it face to face, 50 cities across America. We expect that in Europe and Japan but to see in America, now that’s what they want.
AA: When I come to NY sometimes, the clubs sometimes feel a bit dry.
SW: That’s true. As a matter of fact, we ended the Birdland. We had done 50 and we come home to Birdland for 4 nights and the first night, the audience was like [claps hands softly and proper-like] and we were like “Wait a minute! Are we in New York!? We just traveled across the country and people are going nuts and this is supposed to be the hippest audience in the world!” We all got a chance to MC and a couple of times Nick Payton would get on the microphone and would have to ask, “is this New York or what? We just got back from Oklahoma, you’re supposed to bring it better than that!” So sometimes the NY audience shows up because they are tourists who were told to go to this jazz club because its famous or they are jazz nerds who say “now I want to see what time signature they’re going to play in”. They are thinking this [holds hands close to one another] and not feeling this [gestures towards heart]. It’s kind of funny to go to some of these places man, where people are bringing and then to go to NY and they are like “hmmm”.
AA: You called your recent band, Wilsonian’s Grain, musicians and magicians. I thought that was an excellent was to personify a jazz musician. Both make you think and question what you believe and stretch your curiosity…these aren’t necessarily the average jazz listeners go-to qualities in the music but the avid jazz fan or a person whose into the culture and what’s going on, not necessarily the nerd, might look at the music on stage.
SW: How many times do we say when we go out and hear someone we already love and we know its going to be great, and they play beyond that level and you ask yourself, “how did they do that? How did they hear that?” Which is what you say when you see a magician, literally. I’m listening to these guys on the bandstand, I’m always listening to these guys and what they do sometimes, I would ask myself “where did they find that?” Because it would be so far from what I would think of and…
AA: That’s them.
SW: That’s them.
AA: I’ll bet there on the bandstand too and be like “man, I need to go home and shed”. I’ll hear something and say “oh”. When I hear you play, it’s inspiring.
SW: Well thanks man, I’m just trying to be plugged into the source all the time.
AA: Orrin too, man, on the performance, he was really on that night.
SW: Orrin has evolved so much. Like most of us, I’ve been watching him and listening to him over the years. He has evolved into something so unique and special. I went to see his engagement at The Jazz Standard. He had Ralph Peterson, Tim Warfeild and Eric Revis. The stuff that Orrin was doing…I just love his music. He’s another one who is real encompassing spoken word and hip-hop. He thinks out of the box all the time, but he can play in the box too and that’s what I love. He’s rooted and is not just stepping out there for the sake of being different. He’s an extension. That’s what I call truly “extending the tradition”. He knows it, it’s a part of him, he’s rooted in it but he also understands a part of the tradition is finding your own voice and finding your own expression and I think that sometimes we get the two mixed up. You know? You can’t find you own voice outside of this music! If you’re going to call yourself a jazz musician, there’s too much history! It’s not a vacuum, you can’t exist in a vacuum with this music. Because 99.99% of the time you’ll find that this new thing that you’ve discovered has already been done in some form, shape or fashion so you might as well go to the source of the information first, then you can decide how you want to employ it and what thread you want to take from it to make your own fabric.
AA: It’s exciting for me to see how jazz will continue to explore hip-hop idioms.
SW: It will be. What’s interesting about it is that jazz is different from classical music in terms of form. Jazz is repetitive, classical composition keeps evolving. Where as in jazz, the composition is mostly within the improvisatory part. Of course, you have great jazz composers who can write extensively and can write extended forms like classical music. Take hip-hop, which compared to jazz, is “loop”. It’ll be interesting to see. The challenge is how can you maintain this “loop” effect, and keep in changing and keep it evolving. I don’t know. Coltrane did it in terms of using vamps. Miles brought in the modal jazz element and that was the start of it. Later on, Pharaoh Sanders and McCoy Tyner, how they would play over vamps and find new sounds over vamps. Now if you use a singular rhythmic loop, how do you keep that going, I’m not saying it can’t be done but I just don’t know. We’ll see. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops because this generation of musicians that’s coming along now are weaned on hip-hop as a primary musical source or other kinds of music because they grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. Very few of us started out as jazz babies, at one year old down with Miles. I was exposed to a lot of different things at 3 or 4 years old. I do remember Ahmad Jamal at Pershing was the first recording that I remember latching onto but there was also Motown, gospel, Stevie Wonder, P-Funk, Kool & The Gang, Edgar Winter, fusion and the whole bit. Up until I was 18 or 19, I didn’t really concentrate on jazz until I was 19, when I knew how serious of a study it was. Then I stopped listening to everything else, but to get to the music, I had to really focus. Needless to say there was a lot of listening to do, and a lot of shedding. My musical appetite consisted of everything, and still does. It doesn’t stop. If you’re going to be a practitioner of jazz you have to study the art form, make no mistake about it. It’ll be interesting to see what this generation of musicians will come up with. What parts of the tradition will they take with them, what will they leave behind if any element they leave behind? That’s just the nature of the music. It keeps evolving. Who knows where it’s going to go. I think Monk’s answer when someone asked him where jazz is going to go was “I don’t know, It might be going to hell!” We’ll just have to wait and see.
https://jazz.ccnysites.cuny.edu/faculty/steve-wilson/
Steve Wilson
Associate Professor/Director of Jazz Studies
Office: Shepard Hall 76D
Phone: (212) 650–5411
Email: swilson2@ccny.cuny.edu
stevewilsonmusic.com
Biography
Saxophonist Steve Wilson has toured and recorded with Chick Corea, Dave
Holland, Buster Williams, Mulgrew Miller, James Williams, Lionel
Hampton, and Ralph Peterson, Jr., amongst the many jazz greats with whom
he has collaborated. His discography encompasses over one hundred
recordings, including seven as leader.
Mr. Wilson has consistently placed in the Downbeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the alto and soprano saxophone categories since 1997. He has previously taught at William Paterson University, The New School, SUNY Purchase, and has been Artist-in-Residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and for Cityfolk, Inc. in Dayton, Ohio.
Wilson has toured and/or performed with Lionel Hampton, Out of the Blue, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, The Four Tops, Stephanie Mills, Ellis Marsalis, Hamiet Bluiett, Buck Clayton, Mel Lewis, Michele Rosewoman, Ralph Peterson, Jr., Mulgrew Miller, Dave Liebman, Leon Parker, Renee Rosnes, Joe Henderson, Frank Foster, Peter Leitch, John Hicks, Dave Holland, Benny Powell, Etta Jones, Benny Golson, Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves, John Clayton, Billy Childs, David Berkman, Ray Drummond, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, James Williams, Bruce Barth, Geoffrey Keezer, The Charles Mingus Big Band, Michael Weiss, Jimmy Heath, Benny Carter, Dr. Billy Taylor, Mulgrew Miller, and Buster Williams.
Steve Wilson’s teaching philosophy emphasizes mastering the technical and musical fundamentals that will enable the student to be a total musician, as well as a skilled performer. In addition, an awareness and appreciation of the earlier periods of jazz and American music are encouraged.
Education
Virginia Commonwealth
https://vermontreview.tripod.com/Interviews/wilson.htm
A Legend in The Making: An Interview with Steve Wilson
by Brian L. Knight
Saxophonist Steve Wilson is one Jazz’s busiest individuals. He is presently on tour with Chick Corea’s Origin, which has been to Europe and across the states and back. He is also the feature saxophonist on bassist Dave Holland’s newest album Points of View. In addition, Wilson has also recorded his fifth album, Generations, which has been released by Concord Records. The album also features Mulgrew Miller (piano), Ben Riley (drums) and Ray Drummond (bass).
Wilson grew up in Virginia where he was exposed to music by both his friends and family. During the 1980s, he moved to New York City where he soon established himself as one of jazz’s premier saxophonists. While taking a little break from his busy schedule with Chick Corea, the Vermont Review caught up with Steve Wilson while he was taking a brief break in California.
Vermont Review: Where Am I calling right now?
Steve Wilson: Hollywood
VR: Are you playing out there right now?
SW: Yeah, we are playing at Catalina’s Bar and Grill. And we were at Yoshii’s last week in Oakland. We finish her on Sunday and leave for Europe next week. We will be there for three weeks.
VR: Have you been to Europe before as a musician?
SW: This will be my 4th or 5th. We actually did an extensive European tour this summer and we went all over Europe. I was there a couple of other times with Dave Holland and Buster Williams.
VR: What is your favorite part of Europe?
SW: It is kind of had to choose. Italy is a favorite. Amsterdam. Then Paris. Those would probably be the top three.
VR: Are you basing those decisions on the beauty of the city or the reception of the crowds?
SW: I think a little of all of it. The audiences all over Europe are great. They really appreciate the music. Italy - there is such a warm spirit there. It maybe have something to do with it being on the Mediterranean. I am a little mystic about it. It is the way that people live. People don’t live in a lifestyle based on competition so the stress level is not as prominent. It is part of their daily fabric and they appreciate the music on a very spiritual level. The audiences all over Europe are generally very wonderful.
VR: That facts seems to exist for all types of music.
SW: Yeah. They really dig music. They are really into the arts there. They have had a few thousands years to evolve to their level.
VR: Is that a reason why a lot of American jazz musicians move to Europe?
SW: I think it has something to do with it. The appreciation level for the artists is present. People really appreciate their artistry. I think they are much more connected with the artistry, They don’t live in a world that is commercially driven as the audiences in the states. I am not saying that to be negative about the United States, it is a different perspective on it.
VR: Where is home right now?
SW: New York City. Manhattan.
VR: Do you play regularly in Manhattan?
SW: Not these days, because I have been on the road so much this year. I had my quartet playing at the Jazz Standard recently. We did a week there. It is relatively new club - it has been open for little over a year now. When Is get the opportunity, I work in clubs around town - Sweet Basils, Village Vanguard. Before it closed, I was working at Bradley’s quite a bit. Unfortunately, that closed a couple of years ago and it is sorely missed. That was a real meeting place for all the musicians. At this point, there is nothing else that has stepped in to take its place. It was a place that you could go and connect with your peers and see all the great musicians play. And there was a lot of tradition there. This year I have been on the road.
VR: Is one good thing about being on the road seeing all the beautiful places?
SW: Well, once you get a chance to see them. A lot of times you arrive at the city that you are playing, have time to take a shower, change, eat and get to the concert. In most cases, you are off the next morning. So, most of the time, you really don’t have a chance to see the places that you are going to. It is really not that much of a sightseeing tour. Airports and the bandstands.
VR: Do you ever get any practice accomplished on the road?
SW: Intermittently. It is hard. First of all, there is usually no time to practice. Most of your day is spent traveling. There is not a lot of preparation time for the concert. So you try to squeeze in some warm up time there and if you get a day off and you are not too tired, one will try to squeeze in some practice. When you are on tour, it is very difficult to get any practice in. You would literally have to sacrifice sleep to do that. For me, it is more important to save the energy for the concert then to spend time practicing. Of course there is music to learn and I will do that with my practice time. Usually Is try to get that in when I am warming up for the concert.
VR: Taking a step back, where did you grow up?
SW: Hampton,. Virginia.
VR: Did you come from a musical family?
SW: Not really. My father sang in the male spiritual choir. I used to go around with them to concerts. More than that, he was a musical enthusiast. He bought a lot of records. He took me to the jazz festivals that happened every year - the George Wayne festivals. It was called the Hampton Jazz Festival. It is still going on even though it is more of an R&B Festival. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, I saw people like Cannonball Adderly, Eddie Harris, Les McCann, Roland Kirk, Sarah Vaughn - the jazz greats. That would happen ever summer. So that and along with the records, is kind of where I developed a taste for music.
VR: So your dad was deep into jazz?
SW: Yeah, he dug all types of music. He dug everything -Motown, James Brown, Beatles, Ahmad Jamal, Miles Davis.
VR: So it sounds like you have a lot of musical influences through the environment that you grew up in. Do you have an y non musical influences?
SW: That is a good question. When I was growing up, it was music and sports. Everybody in my neighborhood played music or sports. We had garage bands when I was 12 or 13 years old that would rehearse every Saturday. We would learn all of the R&B and funk tunes. We were turned on to people like Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang and we were playing school dances. When we were not doing that, we were out playing basketball and football. So that was basically it at that time.
VR: Sound like a good American upbringing.
SW: Yeah. it was actually pretty healthy at the time. During the Summer, we were playing all day and listening to music. And they you waited for the sun to go down and then you go play basketball.
VR: What was your first big breakthrough as a musician?
SW: I would probably have to say it was during the early 1980s when I was still living in Virginia. A friend of mine Jay was a drummer there, and would bring in artists from New York. He would call me to play with them to help form a quartet. We were playing a couple of local clubs there. What probably got me to New York was joining the band Out Of The Blue which was kind of a young lions group in the mid 1980s that recorded for Blue Note. Kenny Garrett had just left the band to play with Art Blakely and I filled in. Subsequently, I went to New York in 1987 after joining in Out Of The Blue.
VR: I have heard you on Leon Parker’s amazing percussion album, Awakening. Was the album equally spiritual to record as it is to listen to?
BK: Leon and I have always had a great working relationship. We haven’t done anything in the last year because of respective schedules. In the last three for four years, we have worked together a lot with different groups. The first time we worked together as a duo. That has been a very spiritual experience because we have a lot of trust. It is kind of operative that we work on when we playing together because we are so free to go out and totally improvise without any preconceived notions or tunes. We seem to come up with form. There is a lot of trust between us. We feel we have a real simpatico. Awakenings is basically a continuation of that. He gave me a lot of space to create.
BK: Your new album, Generations, seems to have a nostalgic tone to it. Through the actual name of the album and the individuals that you invited to play, were you trying to be nostalgic?
SW: Not really nostalgia. It is more of an acknowledgement to the musicians who have laid a path for this generation of musicians. The one reason why I chose this particular group of musicians is that even though they have a legacy of music, they are still looking forward. They are not looking back at what they did, they are still moving forward musically. That is the kind of spirit that I wanted to capture by using that group.
BK: How does this album compare to previous albums?
SW: the difference was with logistics. We had two days to record this album so the process was a little easier. This is the first time that is had a chance to use a group with musicians from a previous generation. All of my other records used guys from my immediate peer group, which is think is just as important. Because those were people I had a really simpatico with at the time. I have always had hopes and dreams to record with musicians who I have always admired and felt some musical connection with.
BK: You have played with so many people - different albums, different tours, different jams. Is it difficult to go to from one band to another?
SW: Not really. Even though most of my time now will be taken up with Corea’s group, I enjoy it. It keeps me fresh. It keeps me learning new ideas. It gives me the chance to learn about being a sideman and about being a bandleader. So I really enjoy it, because it is that much more music to check out and become part of my own concept. It makes me a more complete musician.
BK: You have been described as an "in demand" musician. Do you find that demanding?
SW: Yes and No. Yes, it is demanding on your time. In terms of being demanding one ones musicianship, it is an opportunity to learn new music. I don’t think of myself as an artist in demand, I just think of myself as somebody who is trying to be in music. This is what we all do.
BK: Between the variety of instruments that you play - the flute, clarinet, saxophone; is it difficult to go from one instrument to the other?
SW: Yeah. That is something that I am still working on particularly between the flute and the clarinet. Those are instruments that I have come to much later and I am trying to develop techniques.
BK: Similarly, is it difficult to go from one jazz style to another?
SW: No, not really. I always been open minded musically. I like to go in different directions to keep it fresh. It keeps me in tune to new ideas and concepts.
BK: You teach saxophone and ensemble at William Patterson College. Was proper education important in your own personal development?
SW: Definitely. You have to learn the basics of your instrument. It is like sports: if you don’t have the fundamentals, you don’t get very far. Natural talent will only carry you so far.
You can find the great saxophone playing on any number of albums. For starters, check out his own album Generations as well as Dave Holland’s Point of View.
https://www.jazzspeaks.org/the-jazz-gallery-presents-steve-wilson-the-next-generation-of-jazz/
The Jazz Gallery Presents: Steve Wilson & The Next Generation of Jazz
Photo by John Abbott
Saxophonist Steve Wilson gives new meaning to the word versatility. No matter the style of music or size of band, Wilson elevates the playing of those around him. He can soar over lush big band backgrounds, like those of Maria Schneider or Miho Hazama, be an indispensable role player in supergroups like the Blue Note 7, or have his every move put under a microscope, like when playing duo with drummer Lewis Nash.
Wilson’s newest project finds him taking up the mantle of drummer Art
Blakey, leading a group of very talented young musicians. Wilson first
assembled this “Next Generation of Jazz” band for show at Jazz at
Lincoln Center’s “Generations in Jazz” Festival this past Fall, and we
at The Jazz Gallery are pleased that Wilson will bring this group to our
stage for two nights of shows this weekend. Check out one of their
first sets together at Dizzy’s in the video below, but be sure to stop
by the Gallery this weekend to see this talented group’s rapport deepen.
Steve Wilson and The Next Generation of Jazz plays The Jazz Gallery on Friday, January 8th, and Saturday, January 9th, 2016. The group features Mr. Wilson on saxophones, Riley Mulherkar on trumpet, Chris Pattishall on piano, Linda Oh on bass, and Ulysses Owens, Jr. on drums. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. each night. $22 general admission ($12 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.
Steve Wilson is known as a super-professional sideman, but now he takes the lead at the Village Vanguard
Steve Wilson is known as the consummate sideman. Leaders such as Chick Corea, Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Dave Holland and Buster Williams will speak of his playing and professionalism in glowing terms.
But this week the alto and soprano saxophonist takes the lead at the Village Vanguard with a new, drumless trio. Rounding out the group are pianist Renee Rosnes and bassist Peter Washington.
He demurs when I call him the leader of the week long run. "Frankly, I don't consider myself the leader per se," Wilson says. "I think of it as collaborative."
Rosnes hails from Canada and came to New York in the mid-'80s to join the group OTB (Out of the Blue), as did Wilson, taking the chair that Kenny Garrett held.
"I've known and admired Peter since his days with Art Blakey," says Wilson. "Likewise, we've ended up on many dates and recording sessions together."
The Village Vanguard is a shrine to jazz known worldwide. Yet Wilson explains that the drumless format harkens back to a club dearly missed by the New York jazz community: Bradley's.
"Bradley's was mainly a piano room," Wilson says of the venue that was a mainstay for multi generations of jazz musicians on University Place in the Village from 1969-1996. "If you were a young musician and wanted to be around the masters, that was the place to be. There was a certain intimacy to that room."
Likewise, this trio is intimate. "Renee has such a beautiful, elegant touch," says Wilson. "And Peter's known for his sound, consistency, great groove and some of the most melodic lines of anyone playing."
Wilson, 51, is himself renowned for soulful performance on a bed of flowing, flawless technique. Whether playing first alto in a big band such as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, or in a smaller ensemble, what's clear to the ears is Wilson's impeccable taste. He blends as needed; when out front as a soloist he never overplays but still impresses with mature exuberance.
Wilson grew in Hampton, V a., and began playing the sax at 12. He was surrounded by neighborhood musical peers, and realized he wanted to play professionally by age 16. His father, whose record collection had classics by artists such as Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis, would take him to see jazz legends at George Wein's Hampton Jazz Festival.
In the early '80s, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University and was mentored by Doug Richards, who designed the jazz program .
"We'd play early Ellington, but also Frank Foster, and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis," Wilson says. "He brought in the Heath Brothers, Jaki Byard, Sonny Rollins, Elvin Jones, Benny Carter. I had a chance to be in contact with all those people, and that really opened me up in a different way."
Wilson moved to New York to continue his work with elders, not to be a star. The marketing impetus of the "young lions" following in the wake of the Marsalis brothers saw many young artists becoming leaders early, skipping the step of playing in bands led by masters before becoming leaders on record and on the road themselves.
Wilson, rather, modeled himself on artists such as Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond and Victor Lewis. "In the late '80s, every week those guys were playing with somebody, in all kinds of combinations," he says. "You could equate their names with quality; they always gave their best and made every band they were in sound great.
"So I patterned myself after them. I wanted to be able to play in many different situations but to be able to bring my own personality and vision to any situation, and try to make it be as good as it can be."
Now Wilson's passing on those lessons to students at the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard Jazz Studies program, SUNY Purchase, and City College.
In addition to music theory, the Manhattanite emphasizes the cultural context of the music, so students understand the rich history and lineage involved, and essential elements such as blues, swing and 4/4 time.
Professionalism is another of his key points of mentorship. "The stage is sacred," Wilson says. "People don't really care how bad your reeds are, or what you had to go through to get to the gig, or problems you might be having with the business. When you get to that stage, you make the best music that you can to connect with the music, the musicians, and the people."
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Steve Wilson Trio
Tues.-Sun., 9/11 p.m.
Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Ave. South, (212) 255-4037
https://joffewoodwinds.com/videos/steve-wilson-total-jazz-musician/
Steve Wilson—The Total Jazz Musician
I first heard Steve “live” while he was subbing on the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and subsequently started listening to him. It was clear that he was the real deal—an improviser who had studied the music and his instrument with great thoroughness. Steve has his own voice on saxophone while reflecting the influences of many of the great masters. In this interview, Steve talks about his musical beginnings and the influences of saxophonists Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, David Sanborn, Eddie Harris, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Phil Woods, Johnny Hodges, etc. as well as drummers on his musical evolution. He also reflects on his development as a multi-instrumentalist, sideman, bandleader, and jazz educator. Finally, Steve provides an inside look at his approach to practicing and mastering a tune when he dissects Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma.” I hope you have as much fun with this video interview as I had interacting with Steve.
