“The band basically mutinied on me, so I shut it down,” Wilson explained during a set break. “The bottom line? Money fucks up everything. The gigs just weren’t there. But I also felt like the discipline just wasn’t there with a lot of people. They didn’t get the hard work and rehearsals that come with a big band, and they weren’t into the ensemble work either. It was more an attitude of ‘Hey! I can solo in this band!’”

The ensemble, variously billed as the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra or the Ugetzu Big Band, had been a staple of the Washington scene since January 1998. It had become something of a required course for D.C. jazz musicians, with players from Nasar Abadey and Reginald Cyntje to Bowie and Jamal passing through its ranks over the years.
“That’s disappointing,” says Dustin Mollick, until recently a tenor saxophonist in the big band (and the only recent member available for comment today), of the breakup. “I haven’t been in the band for 3-4 months now…but I hadn’t heard about it from anyone.”

Mollick does suggest that there had for some time been dissension in the ranks. “Lots of people in the band had problems with the way Thad ran the band and rehearsals,” he says. “Especially the fact that we played the same charts so many times when we had a great opportunity with that group to play new music.”

Wilson intends to rebuild the band from the ground up. “I will always be doing something with the big band configuration,” he says. “I have some of my core players who are still willing to work with me. And I’m looking at bringing down some cats from New York.” He adds, however, that this version of the band will gig much less frequently than its famous weekly gigs at Bohemian Caverns: “I think part of the problem was that I overexposed us. You see us all the time, it’s less interesting.”

No word on the fate of the band’s long-delayed second CD, Movin’ On (for which your humble correspondent wrote liner notes).

In the meantime, Wilson—who also teaches music at GWU—promises to remain active in smaller group configuration. He also announced from the stage last night that his Movie Nights (i.e., playing the score of a film as it is screened) will now be a monthly feature at HR-57.

Oct. 10
Forward-thinking bassist Dave Holland leads arguably the hippest quintet in progressive jazz, with unconventional approaches to form, harmony, and interplay between the musicians. Chalk it up to Holland’s uncanny ability to spot and coordinate talents–certainly it lends promise to any other combo he happens to be a part of. Take the Overtone Quartet: It includes Holland and saxophonist Chris Potter, two fifths of the Holland Quintet, but places them onstage with two jazz adventurers, pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland. The quartet played their first-ever gig in September, meaning their work here is sure to be fresh and exciting. The Overtone Quartet plays Saturday night at the Kennedy Center, $35.

Oct. 10-11
The Thelonious Monk International Competition, one of the most prestigious jazz contests in the world, has an uncanny track record of picking future stars as its winners (Marcus Roberts, Joshua Redman, Gretchen Parlato) and finalists (Joey DeFrancesco, Jane Monheit, Marcus Strickland). This year’s event has two separate competitions: One for bassists and one for composers. The bass competition will have two public events, the semifinal (at the Museum of Natural History) and final (at the Kennedy Center). Seeing either portion gives local jazz fans great odds for walking away with a story that begins, “I was there when he/she got started.”

Oct. 12
The jazz economy is struggling as hard as everybody else, and thus making the same cutbacks. Thad Wilson’s Jazz Orchestra, the big band that largely forms the heart of the D.C. scene (since so many of the local players have passed through it), has winnowed their formerly weekly gig at Bohemian Cavernsdown to the second Monday of every month. Unfortunate, but there’s a silver lining: It means that seeing TWJO play has become a special treat, and that much more worth leaving the house on a Monday night to hear them work through their book of novel arrangements and array of great soloists and ensemble players. Cover is $5, the music goes until midnight, and a better cross-section of DC jazz musicians you’re not likely to find anywhere else.

Thad Wilson’s Ugetzu Big Band, the Monday-night fixture at Bohemian Caverns, is this weekend celebrating the release of their new CD Movin’ On. (Disclosure: I authored the liner notes, gratis, for the disc.) Tonight they appear at the weekly Jazz Night festivities at Westminster Presbyterian Church in SW. It’s a low-key neighborhood gig, but it’s only $5, and they do offer food and drinks for an additional fee.

Tomorrow, though, is the big event: a combination CD release party and Christmas concert at the Caverns, which will also feature D.C. singer Sharon Clark. Two sets, 8:30 and 10:30, and admission is $18. It’ll feature both Christmas music and tunes from their standard live repertoire—which also comprise the CD, so you get an album preview to boot.