"With his fourth album, Dave Wilson, on tenor and soprano saxophones, puts a strong foot forward, backed by a tight and raring-to-go rhythm section of young pianist Bobby Avey, bassist Tony Marino and drummer Alex Ritz. From the tricky, pulsing energy of the opening “The Time Has Come,” on which the saxophonist brandishes his big tone and easily tumbling facility, to the simple folk theme of “On The Prairie,” There Was Never makes a varied and mostly powerful impact." - DownBeat Magazine, Feb 2016
After a strong showing on 2010’s acclaimed Spiral, saxophonist, bandleader, composer, and educator Dave Wilson goes into even deeper waters on There Was Never. With the exciting young pianist Bobby Avey (a 2011 Thelonious Monk Competition winner) elevating the proceedings alongside Alex Ritz on drums and Wilson’s frequent collaborator Tony Marino on bass, Wilson leaps to a new level on his superb ZOHO debut. “This is my fourth CD and I feel each one has gotten better,” says the Bronxville native and longtime resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “I feel I keep evolving in my own playing, my improvising, my sound, my writing. And this record represents where I’m at right now.”
Avey, Ritz and Marino, who have been playing together in saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman’s band for the past three years, brought a ready-made chemistry to the session at Red Rock Studio in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. But what most impressed Wilson was some of the chances they took on this highly intuitive session. “We did some playing together beforehand at the Somethin' Jazz club and The Garage in Manhattan and also at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap,” says Wilson.
“I always like to take these tunes that I’m going to record and play them out with the band and really internalize them before going into the studio. So there was that cohesiveness going with the rhythm section before the session. But what Bobby came up with in the studio, especially some of the rhythmic type comping ideas he brought to the table, I hadn’t necessarily heard on some of these gigs we played. And his solos were also very rhythmically creative rather than just a lot of fast runs, which really helped make the thing happen. And Tony and Alex also brought a lot of magic to the sessions, to say the least.”
You can hear that kind of spontaneous energy on the super-charged, Afro-Cuban flavored opener The Time Has Come, which introduces Wilson’s bold, authoritative tenor tones and formidable improvisations. Ritz fuels the churning 12/8 groove while Avey’s spiky piano solo and urgent comping on the rubato section has Wilson tapping into some Trane energy. “I started playing the clarinet in grade school and John Coltrane was the guy that got me into playing the saxophone,” he says. “He was really one of the first jazz musicians I heard and the most influential person I listened to. That kind of melodic and emotional approach that you can hear in his playing is something that inspired me, and has so to this day. And I try and tap into that whenever I play.”
Wilson next switches to soprano for bracing interpretations of two pop tunes -- the Grateful Dead’s Cassidy (a Bob Weir-John Barlow song that appeared on the Dead’s 1981album Reckoning) and Brian Wilson’s God Only Knows (an emotive number that appeared on the Beach Boys’ landmark 1966 album Pet Sounds). “There was a period of my life, in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s, when I really dug the Grateful Dead, especially Jerry Garcia” says Wilson, who covered the Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” on Spiral.
”I saw them about 30 times back then and had friends who saw them 70-100 times. The deal with them, they had this collective improvisation thing happening on stage and those jams always appealed to me. They really started that whole phenomenon of jam bands and I wanted to capture some of that energy here. With ‘Cassidy,’ I really took the song and re-arranged it. On the soloing there is some consonant playing but we are going in and out of that inside-outside thing on our interpretation and trying to create a collective/Jam type of improvisation.”
The Dave Wilson All-Star Jazz Quartet in concert for the Yorkfest Arts Festival on Aug 28th
Special event on Saturday August 28th! The Dave Wilson All-Star Jazz Quartet, (featuring internationally renowned Jazz legends Phil Markowitz-Piano (Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman); Tony Marino-Bass (Dave Liebman) ; Butch Reed (Legendary Philly drummer, Bootsie Barnes, Larry McKenna others), and led by Summit Records recording artist Dave Wilson on Tenor and Soprano Saxophones) will be performing in a FREE concert for the Yorkfest Fine Arts Festival, at the Strand Capital Theatre on 42 N.
George Street in Downtown York, Pa. from 7:00-9:00. The group will be featuring music from the new CD “Spiral” by The Dave Wilson Quartet (featuring Phil Markowitz, Tony Marino, Adam Nussbaum, and recorded at Red Rock Studios, Soudersburg, PA, and released this summer nationwide on Summit Records), Opening will be the Mike Burton Quartet at 6 PM.
By Karl Ackermann
Saxophonist Dave Wilson was previously a member of two Dave Stahl groups, also playing with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Tom Harrell, Lew Soloff and Conrad Herwig and studying with the great Joe Lovano. The New York native has released two previous collections as a leader, and is actively immersed in music as both an educator and a business person.
Wilson's compositions and covers reflect an eclectic approach, featuring ballads, Latin influences, free improvisation and mainstream jazz. Wilson's and his quartet may well have produced their breakout effort with Spiral; a potpourri of jazz styles from sometimes unlikely sources, it nevertheless flows and holds together, thanks to the multiple skills of Wilson and his band.
The opening title track--appropriate to its name--does, indeed, spiral, jump and swing. Wilson's feverishly fast attack is matched by Phil Markowitz's blistering piano solos as the two set the improvisational tone for much of Spiral. The Richie Beirach masterpiece, “Elm,” demonstrates Wilson's arranging skills, as he takes this complex piece to a place unique from the original.
With its Latin approach and slower tempo, “Ocean Blue” represents a change of pace; Wilson's tenor and Markowitz dominate but, in the quieter surroundings, it is a good place to note the nuanced expertise of veteran drummer Adam Nussbaum, who guides and subtly shifts the rhythm throughout.
Perhaps the best display of Wilson's arranging skills are heard on the barely recognizable Grateful Dead classic, “Friend of the Devil.” More up-tempo than the original (as opposed to The Dead's ubiquitous live versions), Wilson's rippling soprano bookends some great solo work from Markowitz, while bassist Tony Marino has sufficient space to platform his virtuosity.
Always nearby in the mix, Marino doesn't break out often, but provides a deep, steady and creative backdrop for the saxophonist and pianist. Perhaps the most energized piece in the collection, Creed's “My Own Prison” is another standout rock cover, with Wilson's tenor at its gritty best. That rough-edged but fluid mood continues through “Movin' On,” Wilson's self-described favorite piece on Spiral.
Should it appear that cover arrangements are the highlights of Spiral, rest assured that they are just part of the overall package. Wilson's own contributions account for more than half the numbers and they measure up across the board. Whether the focus is on melody or free improvisation, Wilson is more than up to the task and could not have found a more empathetic collaborator than Markowitz. Spiral is an inventive, high-energy collection with a number of very accessible compositions that should propel Wilson's career as a leader. by CD Review: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=37140
Ocean Blues-Dave Wilson, Adam Nussbaum, Jim Ridl, Tony Marino
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