Matt Wilson Quartet - Hug! (2020)

My first in-depth encounter with the music of Matt Wilson came from That’s Gonna Leave A Mark (2009), an album that, did in fact leave a mark with me. That memorable disc by his piano-less Quartet espoused his cheerful approach to mainstream jazz peppered with detours or wild excursions that made certain that listening to the band is never going to bore you. How could it? Heck, his music is always smiling at you.

A veteran of the jazz scene for 30-odd years, Wilson commands a ton of respect as a drummer, composer and bandleader. Even in sideman roles, the man is going to make sure his leader’s music doesn’t sag (one of the many positive takeaways I took from Denny Zeitlin’s Live At Mezzrow, just to cite one example). When the show is all his, he is going to make everyone sound their best.

It’s not hard, honestly, to make sure guys the caliber of Chris Lightcap (bass), Kirk Knuffke (cornet) and Jeff Lederer (saxophone) play maximally. But when you combine their talents with Wilson’s leadership and a lineup that’s remained stable since around 2014’s Gathering Call, you’ve got yourself a well-oiled machine.

The Matt Wilson Quartet’s famed tempestuous attack on songs both original and not is immediately recognizable from the open notes of Gene Ammon’s “The One Before This.” That single-note melody is a perfect platform for letting it hang out and Wilson’s gutbucket drums set the tone in a flashy — but short of cheeky — style. Lederer and Knuffke take their turns, with the latter barely able to wait his turn, and Lightcap’s bass walk is rock steady, even maintaining the swing during his own solo turn.

When it comes to finding songs to cover, Wilson is a joy-seeker, and he can find it anywhere, such as in Abdullah Ibrahim’s cavorting “Jabulani,” taking cues from the melodic free-bop take the then-Dollar Brand led on his song with saxophone firebrands John Tchicai and Gato Barbieri. Wilson chooses to have Lederer and Knuffke briefly collide into one another before Lederer takes the reigns for himself and makes well-articulated remarks accented by a few squawks. After Knuffke and Lightcap have their own say, Wilson launches into an unaccompanied spotlight, staying within the spirit of the South African chant even though there are no notes around.

Charlie Haden is perhaps a little underrated as a composer, but not to Wilson. Wilson lights a fire under the already smoldering “In The Moment,” inspiring Knuffke to make hay on the cornet and Lederer on sax with precise, bustling solos. “Space Force/Interplanetary Music” combines two Sun Ra tunes, which already makes it a little off kilter, but then Wilson & Co. turns part of it into a march and dubs in President Trump’s speech announcing the Space Force. Zaniness abounds.

Sax legend Dewey Redman was on Wilson’s debut album and his “Joie de Vivre” is converted from a mellow number to a snappy, crisp one, led initially by Wilson’s brushes but opens up as they go along.

The back end of the album goes heavier with Wilson’s own material, but inspired from ridiculously varied sources. For “Sunny & Share” — get it? — Wilson draws inspiration from hits “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On,” and he has the band pedaling as fast as it can. Accompanied by strings, “Hug!” pushes into easy-listening territory but it also recalls the balletic pop songcraft of the 60s as well.

Speaking of classic pop songs of that era, with Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” Wilson reminds us that ‘swing’ isn’t just in jazz; in fact, it’s this song’s swing that made this country number nearly top the pop charts in 1965. Lederer on clarinet and later Knuffke takes on the lyric lines while Wilson’s swing is an appropriately light touch because Lightcap is already taking care of business with the rhythm.

The klezmer march “Man Bun” is the briefest track but also one of the most fun. And “Hambe Kahle (Goodbye)” like “Jabulani” is a bright, South African melody but Wilson wrote this one and it evokes more Hugh Masekela than it does Ibrahim.

There hadn’t been a whole lot to be happy about lately, but music has always been a pick-me-up elixir, and Matt Wilson has understood that mission long before we collectively found ourselves reaching for its healing sounds. Right now, we can all use a Hug!. Cheers.~Victor Aaron