Drummer Matt Wilson promises a jazz concert by his Arts & Crafts Band that every guest will be able to understand as well as enjoy.
His most recent CD, The Scenic Route (Palmetto Records), released in January, is much like that, not easy listening but jazz music that grooves even as it challenges one's perception of a groove. Songs are penned by such well-known artists as Thelonious Monk, Pat Metheny, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Wilson, who for the past four years has been the top vote-getter for “Rising Star Drummer" in Downbeat Magazine's International Critics Poll, knows that jazz seems off-limits to some people.
He thinks that's a shame. “You shouldn't have to baffle people with it -- it's a folk music," he said.
He believes jazz has created a barrier between the performer and the patron. Jazz certainly has a devoted, small following, but it has battled that barrier for decades to gain a wider audience.
His most recent CD, The Scenic Route (Palmetto Records), released in January, is much like that, not easy listening but jazz music that grooves even as it challenges one's perception of a groove. Songs are penned by such well-known artists as Thelonious Monk, Pat Metheny, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Wilson, who for the past four years has been the top vote-getter for “Rising Star Drummer" in Downbeat Magazine's International Critics Poll, knows that jazz seems off-limits to some people.
He thinks that's a shame. “You shouldn't have to baffle people with it -- it's a folk music," he said.
He believes jazz has created a barrier between the performer and the patron. Jazz certainly has a devoted, small following, but it has battled that barrier for decades to gain a wider audience.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
