Matt Wilson is a jazz drummer of uncommon clarity and playfulness. Those descriptions apply to his playing and his focus as a bandleader. At the kit, Wilson dances and dallies but also drives the band with propulsive swing. As a leader, he puts together and directs groups that are simultaneously about something and utterly entertaining. These balances are rarely achieved with the grace that Wilson never lacks.
His band Good Trouble debuted two years ago, named for the famous phrase from civil rights and political leader John Lewis, and Wilson still insists on standing up for his principles. In the case of the new Love Is the Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces (a line from a poem by the Sufi poet Rumi), Wilson’s political outrage and resistance are present but come through an embrace of love, community, and gorgeous music.
What better, and more counterintuitive, example than this group of jazz musicians transforming Tom Petty‘s “I Won’t Back Down”? Bassist Ben Allison turns his Hofner electric bass into a kind of baritone finger-picked guitar as pianist Dawn Clement applies her clear, unfussy vocals to the lyrics. Wilson orchestrates the tune with a simple arrangement for tenor (Jeff Lederer) and alto (Anisha Rush) saxophones. The rock anthem softens into something gentler and more appealingly beautiful.
Clement’s singing appears on half of the album’s ten tunes, just as half are originals by Wilson (or bassist Allison). It’s truly an album of the balance Wilson embodies.
The instrumentals tend to cook or bounce with playful swing. Andrew Hill’s jazz waltz “Black Fire” does both. The theme bobs, and as Lederer takes the first solo on tenor, the rhythm section cracks apart some, with Clement’s piano playing frayed harmonies as Wilson lets his cymbal crashes freely color the fun. The exuberant alto saxophone solo is by Tia Fuller, who is also (appropriately) featured on Bobby’s Watson’s “Fuller Love”, a tune played by the Jazz Messengers as “In Case You Missed It”. It alternates between an irresistible vamp and four-on-the-floor swing, pushing Fuller, Clement, and Lederer to play with controlled abandon during solos and on a joyous collective improvisation on the out-chorus.
Also dancing with joy is a cover of Jack DeJohnette‘s “Festival” from his 1984 Album Album by the band Special Edition. It is, of course, a drummer’s dream of a song, featuring a polyrhythmic Caribbean groove over which all the horns can really cook. Wilson’s original, “Welcome Table”, has two themes: a quirky, off-the-back-foot funk with stop times, and a walking swing to set up a jaunty bop melody. Rush takes a charming alto saxophone solo that evokes the fun side of Ornette Coleman, and her conversation with Clement is almost Thelonious Monk-ian. Soon enough, Rush and Lederer launch into an improvised duet that curls back into the melody.
The other vocal tracks cover a wide range. The band provides a faithful rendering of the 1963 hit for Dionne Warwick, the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic “Anyone Who Had a Heart”. The odd-metered 12/8 feeling is intact as well as the wistful vocal, but Wilson brings the saxophones in to provide just a little strut and shout. Clement’s lyrics for the Ben Allison tune “Green Al” reinforce the song’s melodic strength. Rush’s alto solo and Clement’s statement on piano play out over a flowing minor harmonic motion, given gravity-defying lift by the bassist’s double-stops and woodwind harmonies.
The performances that most plainly embody the album’s political/spiritual theme are its opening and closing tracks. Wilson’s “Wind Spirit” opens things with a meditative ballad that finds a gospel chord or two along the way. Clement sings from the Bible, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going” (John 3:8). Rush’s alto and Lederer’s clarinet add to the feeling of yearning—a yearning for something better, something that rises above. The Wilson closer, “Love Is the Whole Thing”, is also a gentle one, with clarinet and alto winding around a synth line from Clement. Hers is the only voice heard on Love is the Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces until the end of this tune, where the whole band joins in, singing the title.
It’s a soulful ending, with Fuller soloing with blues tonality as the group vocal repeats and builds spirit. This is the kind of magic trick that Wilson has been doing with his groups for some time: creating something both heavy and light as air, a protest against the world’s repressions that answers with joy.
In this band, Matt Wilson has assembled musicians who match that balance. Ben Allison never fails to embody an ideal between melody and accompaniment, and his new electric bass skills—not those of a 1970s fusion-eer but something closer to the art of Steve Swallow—reinforce his versatility. Jeff Lederer is breezy and warm on clarinet, a perfect partner in every ensemble, and a soloist whose statements are urgent but logical. Fuller and Rush, both on alto saxophones, are distinct players, the former more a balm and the latter lighting a fire. Balance.
Dawn Clement is, of course, the wildcard of Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble, coloring songs with a disarming vocal instrument that might seem naive or simple but is, in fact, carefully calibrated and wise. On her recent recordings, it’s clear her piano isn’t a footnote to her singing (2025’s Delight, with bassist Buster Williams and Matt Wilson, features only three vocal tracks; her 2024 trio outing with guitarist Steve Kovalcheck and bassist Jon Hamar is purely instrumental). She is a mainstream player and thoughtful soloist, bringing the intelligence of an arranger to her accompaniment. Her singing is sly and worth attention. This year’s tribute to Blossom Dearie covers songs beyond the obvious ones and reminds us that jazz singers with “smaller” voices can still be expressive and artful.
On Love Is the Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces, Dawn Clement, Matt Wilson, and their bandmates balance the vigor of urgent rhythm with the contemplative and hopeful.