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Anthony Wilson

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect.

Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult Themes (2000). His fourth recording with the nonet, Power of Nine (2006) was included in the New Yorker’s roundup of that year’s top-ten jazz albums.

Born in Los Angeles, Wilson is the son of the late jazz trumpeter and bandleader Gerald Wilson. That lineage has deeply informed his creative trajectory, compositional choices, instrumental groupings and the wide-ranging discography that blooms out of them. Wilson’s acclaimed collection of organ-trio albums — Our Gang (2001) and Savivity (2005), with Hammond organist Joe Bagg and drummer Mark Ferber, and later Jack of Hearts (2009), featuring Larry Goldings on organ, and alternating drummers Jim Keltner and Jeff Hamilton, reimagine and reframe post-bop, soul-inflected jazz.

An inventive soloist and sensitive accompanist, Wilson has provided texture and authority both on stage and in recording sessions for jazz legends such as Ron Carter, Mose Allison, Bobby Hutcherson, Madeleine Peyroux, Bennie Wallace, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Harold Land, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Since the late 1980s he has been a member of his father’s jazz orchestra, assuming the leadership of the ensemble since the maestro’s passing in 2014.

While his footing is firmly in the jazz idiom, Wilson pivots with ease into other genres. Over the last decade, he’s been part of sessions and performances with a diverse roster of artists, including Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Aaron Neville, and Barbra Streisand. In 2009, he arranged and orchestrated Brazilian composer Ivan Lins’ “Love Dance” for Ms. Streisand’s grammy-nominated album, Love is the Answer.

Since 2001, he has been a core component of Diana Krall’s quartet, after joining her for a series of concerts in Paris at the Olympia Theater which became the Grammy-winning recording and concert film Live in Paris (2002).

A gifted composer as well, Wilson, while still in his 20s, won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Composers’ Competition in 1995. Since then he has received commissions from IAJE, the Henry Mancini Institute, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the luthier John Monteleone — for whom Wilson composed “Seasons,” a song cycle for a quartet of Monteleone’s handcrafted instruments called “The Four Seasons.” The premiere performance of the piece, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, coincided with the Met’s exhibition “Guitar Heroes” in 2011. That same year Wilson released Campo Belo, a collection of original songs recorded in São Paulo, which partnered him with three of Brazil’s up-and-coming musicians, pianist André Mehmari, drummer Edu Riberio and bassist Guto Wirtti.

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3
Album Review

Ivan Lins: My Heart Speaks

Read "My Heart Speaks" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Ivan Lins is a Brazilian music legend and multiple Latin Grammy Award winner who has consistently delivered a unique blend of bossa nova, jazz and pop throughout his career. In this first release in over ten years, entitled My Heart Speaks, Lins performs rare gems from his catalogue backed by the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra along with guest appearances from vocalists Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit and newcomer Tawanda, as well as trumpeter Randy Brecker. The eleven songs ...

3
Album Review

Dan Schnelle: Shine Thru

Read "Shine Thru" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Dan Schnelle is a drummer on the Los Angeles music scene who has played in a lot of contexts. That is reflected in his first album which delves into different shades of jazz-rock with traces of exotica and electronic music in the margins. “Unknown Territory" and “Spaceman Spiff" are angular pieces that spotlight the atmospheric keyboards of Jeff Babko and the electric guitar of Anthony Wilson with the ethereal vibe of a vintage science-fiction soundtrack. “Shine Thru" ...

6
Album Review

Dan Schnelle: Shine Thru

Read "Shine Thru" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


This debut album from one of the West Coast's go-to drummers delivers an empyrean escape while offering a clear look at the impressive inner workings of a beautiful mind in motion. Those who know Dan Schnelle as a sideman will recognize his master musicianship right off the bat as he lays the foundation for this absorbing music, but they'll probably also come to realize that there's far more to the man than his stick work. In crafting a program built ...

3
Album Review

Cathy Segal-Garcia: Social Anthems, Volume 1

Read "Social Anthems, Volume 1" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Proving there is still some life in the spirit of '60s activism—and even in the decades beyond it—vocalist Cathy Segal-Garcia gives us six tracks which meld jazz, folk and pop idioms in a way which sounds both classic and contemporary. Drawing on the talents of a fine band and a couple of intriguing guest vocalists, Segal-Garcia delivers these tunes with confidence and a winsome disposition. Aside from the self-penned “What Are We Gonna Do," a zesty folk-based tune, ...

5
Album Review

Denise Donatelli: Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach

Read "Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Multi Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Denise Donatelli joins forces with Grammy Award-Winning record producer Larry Klein to offer her first concept album devoted to single composer on the soft-textured Whistling in The Dark... the music of Burt Bacharach. The music from one of the greatest song writers in American musical history, was something both Donatelli and bassist/producer Klein had in common. Klein had stated that Bacharach's music “has been a part of [his] musical DNA...," while the vocalist affirmed that she ...

5
Album Review

Denise Donatelli: Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach

Read "Whistling in the Dark... The Music of Burt Bacharach" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


The Burt Bacharach canon has always been fertile ground for artists of all kinds to explore. Stan Getz devoted an entire album to his fare. The big Bacharach hits are branded deep in the cultural psyche. Thus, the challenge that Grammy-nominated vocalist Denise Donatelli and producer Larry Klein have here is how to use a different ladle to invite you to imbibe from their recipe for Bacharach's musical champagne. The session offers four Bacharach/Hal David hits--three hits ...

10
Album Review

Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue - The Deluxe Version

Read "Sunset in the Blue - The  Deluxe Version" reviewed by William H. Snyder


Henri Matisse, the master of the use of color, said, “Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue." Melody Gardot's Sunset in the Blue: The Deluxe Version shows its mastery, in both the color of its cover design and the execution of its musicianship. Back in the day, Matisse got in trouble with some art critics for his simile. Some listeners might have a similar reaction to Melody's music, but not all. Gardot's ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998), and Adult ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998)... Read more. ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson is a guitarist and composer known for a nuanced body of work that moves fluidly across genres. Wilson has long been curious about blurring borders and finding the place where where style and possibility intersect. Wilson’s first recording— Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by Goat Hill Junket (1998)... Read more. ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson’s career in jazz began auspiciously, and as a creative artist he continues to expand and impress. Among other honors, Wilson\'s first, self-titled CD received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording in 1998; his second CD “Goat Hill Junket" was featured prominently on many jazz critics\' Top-Ten lists for that year; and his third CD “Adult Themes" earned a rare “5 stars" in Downbeat Magazine. In May ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today!

Anthony Wilson’s career in jazz began auspiciously, and as a creative artist he continues to expand and impress. Among other honors, Wilson\'s first, self-titled CD received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording in 1998; his second CD “Goat Hill Junket" was featured prominently on many jazz critics\' Top-Ten lists for that year; and his third CD “Adult Themes" earned a rare “5 stars" in Downbeat Magazine... Read more. ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today! Anthony Wilson’s career in jazz began auspiciously, and as a creative artist he continues to expand and impress. Among other honors, Wilson\'s first, self-titled CD received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording in 1998; his second CD “Goat Hill Junket" was featured prominently on many jazz critics\' Top-Ten lists for that year; and his third CD “Adult Themes" earned a rare “5 stars" in Downbeat Magazine... Read more. ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Jazz Musician of the Day: Anthony Wilson

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Anthony Wilson's birthday today! Anthony Wilson’s career in jazz began auspiciously, and as a creative artist he continues to expand and impress. Among other honors, Wilson\'s first, self-titled CD received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording in 1998; his second CD “Goat Hill Junket" was featured prominently on many jazz critics\' Top-Ten lists for that year; and his third CD “Adult Themes" earned a rare “5 stars" in Downbeat Magazine... Read more. ...

“…Awesomely the real deal.” – Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

My Heart Speaks

Resonance Records
2023

buy

Shine Thru

Outside in Music
2022

buy

Smile

Resonance Records
2022

buy

Whistling in the...

Savant Records
2021

buy

Social Anthems,...

Origin Records
2021

buy

Sister Moon

From: Smile
By Anthony Wilson

For What It's Worth

From: Social Anthems, Volume 1
By Anthony Wilson

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