Thursday, Jan. 19
Observers of the D.C. jazz scene have been known to refer to the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra as "now-defunct" or "former." And that's not true. While the large ensemble doesn't appear with any regularity—or for that matter, with a consistent lineup—the trumpeter has continued his work as a big bandleader after the group's [...]
Damnation, D.C.! The Christian Scott performance at Wolf Trap tonight has been canceled! This was going to be the week's big pick! With a big, glorious photograph of Scott playing trumpet to accompany! Oh, sure, there's plenty of other good stuff for the week, but still.
Thursday, Feb. 3
As jazz piano develops in increasingly abstract and [...]
Thursday, Nov. 4
Now, this is something different. D.C. musician Arch Thompson plays the flute, but he's not a flutist—he's a flutologist. And he doesn't do concerts. He does a ministry, Jazz to Mother Earth, whose mission is to educate us about living in harmony with Mother Earth, especially via clean air and water. And he [...]
As mentioned before, most of this first week's local-artist showcase for the DC Jazz Festival is par for the course in terms of the regular Washington club rotation. There are, however, some exceptions, and the Thad Wilson Quartet is one of them.
Wilson, a trumpeter with a busy schedule of teaching at GWU and raising a [...]
First, a note: While Dave Brubeck's four-night stand at Blues Alley is the biggest show in town this week, it's sold out for every show. So let's talk about stuff we can all go see.
Friday, April 16
Two Washington jazz institutions converge herein. Thad Wilson remains a nonstop powerhouse in our fair city; he keeps busiest [...]
My post last week regarding the newly born Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra mentioned in passing "the demise of the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra," the previous occupant of the Monday evening slot at Bohemian Caverns. However, as a few members of the D.C. jazz scene have pointed out to me since, this was not the best [...]
March 4
Jazz fusion is alive and kicking in the person of Dutch trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. Actually, Vloeimans is a relentlessly experimental musician by any standard, but he devotes special attention to a gleaming electric sound—as on his newest CD, Heavensabove!—that can rock hard or space out with equal ease. Vloiemans' band on the disc is [...]
Nov. 27
Antonio Parker is a smallish-built fellow, with dapper dress and a huge smile. His looks may leave you unprepared for his sound on the saxophone: 100 percent pure brawn. So much muscle is flexed in any one of his solos that his astonishing harmonic sense—trumpeter Kenny Rittenhouse notes how he "devours the changes"—can almost be overlooked. Not [...]
Although HR-57 advertised last night's screening/score performance of Elevator to the Gallows as featuring the Thad Wilson Big Band, the evening actually found Wilson leading a quintet, featuring 19-year-old Elijah Jamal Balbed on tenor sax and D.C. veterans John Ozment (piano), Michael Bowie (bass), and Jimmy "Junebug" Jackson (drums). More appropriate, since the film was [...]
Oct. 9
SaltmanKnowles has a single ambition: Melody. Bassist Mark Saltman and pianist William Knowles, both Howard music graduates and veterans of the D.C. scene, started the quintet specifically to combat the riffs and noodling they kept hearing; they want music that's about lyrical tunes and memorable hooks. Their lush compositions make great ammunition for that cause, [...]
