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Renowned Jazz Drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O Embarks On 16 Days Of Christmas North American Tour Holiday Music As You've Never Heard It Before

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“Wonder and innocence, gaudiness and cheer: can it be any surprise that the jazz drummer Matt Wilson thrives around the holidays?” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times
Performances November 30-December 23 in Santa Cruz, Arcata, Davis and San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; St. Louis, MO and NYC

4-stars. “Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O provides Yuletide greetings so eloquent and mind-bending even the nastiest of Scrooges will want to pay attention." —DownBeat

Legendary jazz drummer Matt Wilson—“an ambassador of good feeling” (NY Times)—brings us on a joyful and adventurous romp through holiday music with Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O during their 16 Days of Christmas North American Tour beginning November 30, 2015. You’ve never really heard You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch or The Chipmunk Songuntil you’ve heard them served-up with Christmas Tree-O’s elfin sense of humor and dazzling musicianship. The band features Wilson with longtime bandmates Jeff Lederer on saxophones and Paul Sikivieon bass. Reviewing their 2010 Palmetto recording Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O, DownBeat declares the group “provides Yuletide greetings so eloquent and mind- bending even the nastiest of Scrooges will want to pay attention."

Behind the humor is a deep grounding in jazz and serious chops. JazzTimes notes that there is “almost nobody in Wilson’s peer group with a broader sense of jazz history, or a more natural sense of time, or a stronger signature as a bandleader, or more goodwill among his fellow players.” A gifted composer, bandleader, producer and educator, Wilson is renowned for his virtuosic flair as a drummer and his good- vibes positivity as a bandleader, not to mention his facility for collaborating with top musicians across the spectrum of jazz – from the mainstream to the avant-garde and virtually everything in between.

Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O brings its 16 Days of Christmas North American Tour to cities and towns from coast to coast from November 30-December 23.

Monday, November 30 – Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA. Doors open and dinner served beginning at 6 p.m. Music at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25/advance; $30/Door. Half-price for students with valid I.D. 831- 427-2227.

Tuesday, December 1 – Redwood Jazz Alliance, Kate Buchanan Room, Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst St., Arcata, CA. 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 / $10 student/senior.

Wednesday – Saturday, December 2-5 – Mondavi Center, Vanderhoef Studio Theater, UC Davis, Davis, CA. All shows at 8 p.m. Tickets $47; $23.50 for children under 18 and $35 for students. 530-754-5000.

Sunday, December 6 – SFJAZZ Center, Joe Henderson Lab,201 Franklin St., San Francisco, CA. Shows at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets $25. 866-920-5299.

Monday, December 7 – SFJAZZ Monday Night Band, Miner Auditorium, San Francisco, CA, with Adam Theis + Special Guest Matt Wilson. 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Tuesday & Wednesday, December 8-9 – Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA. 7:30 p.m. Door open at 6. Winter Special – $10. 206-441-9729

Thursday, December 10 – The Western Front, 303 East 8th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. 8 p.m. Tickets $28, discounts for WF/CJ members, seniors, jazz friends/supporters). Presented by Coastal Jazz and Blues Society in association with Western Front New Music. Chuck Deardorff will be on bass for this performance. 604-876-9343.

Wednesday – Saturday, December 16 - 19 – Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30 /students $10. 314-571-6000.

Tuesday & Wednesday, December 22-23 – Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th Street, NYC with special guest Jason Moran. Sets at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets $30. 212- 576-2232.

New York based drummer and Grammy nominee Matt Wilson is one of today’s most celebrated jazz artists. He is universally recognized for his musical and melodic drummer style as well as being a gifted composer, bandleader, producer and educator. Matt’s positive energy, sense of humor and ability to explore a broad range of musical settings keep him in constant demand. In addition, Wilson’s dedication to jazz has helped establish him as a beloved world ambassador for the music, on and off the bandstand. Wilson has played on hundreds of recording sessions and on top stages the world over, from the White House to historic jazz clubs, from Lincoln Center to festivals and concerts around the globe.

The Knoxville, Illinois native leads the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts and Crafts, Christmas Tree-O and the Carl Sandburg Project and is an integral part of Trio M (with pianist Myra Melford and bassist Mark Dresser) and the new trio Sifter (with Knuffke and guitarist Mary Halvorson), in addition to his myriad sideman gigs, education initiatives and broadcast projects. Wilson has been featured on the covers of both DownBeat and JazzTimes magazines, has been voted #1 Rising Star Drummer in the DownBeat Critics Poll and Drummer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. In addition, Wilson has been a key part of bands led by Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Bob Stewart, Denny Zeitlin, Ron Miles, Marty Ehrlich, Ted Nash, Jane Ira Bloom and Dena DeRose, among others. He has performed with legends of music, including Herbie Hancock, Dewey Redman, Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Elvis Costello, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, John Zorn, Marshall Allen, Wynton Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell and Hank Jones.

Wilson has appeared on over 350 recordings as a sideman and has released 12 albums as a leader as well as 5 as a co-leader. Gathering Call, his most recent release as a leader, earned wide praise for creating music that the Wall Street Journal called “bright, bouncy, unabashedly infectious, with no loss of virtuosic solos and edgy musicianship… direct, contemporary and compelling.” Wilson will be releasing a new recording in the spring of 2016 to celebrate his 20th anniversary with Palmetto Records. The recording, titled Beginning of a Memory, is dedicated to memory of Wilson’s wife Felicia, who passed away in 2014.

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