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Matt Wilson's Big Happy Family

  • Jazz Standard 116 East 27th Street New York, NY, 10016 United States (map)

Shows at 7:30pm & 9:30pm:

Matt Wilson’s Beginning Of A Memory (due out 5/27 on Palmetto Records) is a celebration of life, com­munity, and family expressed with the passionate creativity and virtuosic wit that have made Matt so be­loved in the jazz community as a drummer, composer, and human being. Returning to the studio as a leader for the first time since his wife Felicia lost her battle with leukemia in June 2014, Wilson convened his extended musical family including all past and present members of his longest–running ensembles: The Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts & Crafts, and Christmas Tree–O .

Most of the pieces on Beginning Of A Memory have been associated exclusively with one or another of these groups, making nearly every track simultaneously a revival and a discovery for the various members; the release also marks the 20th anniversary of Wilson’s tenure on Palmetto and of his collabo­ration with producer/label founder Matt Balitsaris. “I made this album to celebrate a community of people and how much their love and support through all of this has meant to me,” says Matt Wilson. “It also cel­ebrates Felicia’s relationship with all these folks, because she had a really special relationship with each and every one of them.”

Terell Stafford – trumpet

Jeff Lederer – tenor saxophone

Joel Frahm – tenor saxophone

Andrew D’Angelo – clarinet, alto saxophone

Aaron Diehl – piano

Chris Lightcap – bass

Paul Sikivie – bass

Matt Wilson – drums

Earlier Event: May 26
Cyrus Chestnut Trio