Tony Wilson Sextet
Lowest Note
 
 
 
 

Tony Wilson, guitar
Dylan van der Schyff, drums
Paul Blaney, bass
Peggy Lee, cello
Dave Say, tenor sax
Kevin Elaschuk, trumpet
François Houle, clarinet (#4)
 

Long awaited and much anticipated release by one of the Pacific Northwest's finest ensembles, led by unsung, yet extraordinary, Tony Wilson.

What the critics are saying:

He (Wilson) is an exceptionally gifted composer-arranger, able to blend the subtle lyricism of chamber music, the drive of modern jazz and outside improvisation into highly listenable tunes ...

The group has an ability to sustain free-blowing improv and simultaneously deal with lyricism, melodicism and harmonies.

In an alternate universe, we'd be celebrating Tony Wilson Day this week ... and to mark the occassion the downtown streets would be filled with an Ivesian cacophony of brass bands playing his arrangements of tunes by Sun Ra, Albert Ayler and Captain Beefheart.

At its best, Wilson's compositions encompass in-and-out qualities that enchant and lead the listener down slightly twisted paths.  Wilson rarely loses sight of melody, but is rarely constrained by it.  His dream-like visions are well executed by the group.

A delicious melancholy pervades this first CD by the Hornby Island guitarist and his five musicians from nearby Vancouver.  It's the turn of his melodies, the thoughtful crafting of his arrangements and the sound of his cellist, Peggy Lee ...  But there's a difference between the melancholic and the downright gloomy; Wilson's reflective, not morose, and he finds a place in his evocations for leavening solos by Lee, tenor saxophonist Dave Say and trumpeter Kevin Elaschuk.