Wintertides
Sam Wilson
Studio 204 (samwilsonmusiq.bandcamp.com)
The state of the Canadian guitar in the key of jazz has never been in such good shape as it is today. You only have to consider the contributions to jazz literature made by such masters as Ray Norris,Diz Disley, Ed Bickert,Lorne Lofsky, Nelson Symonds, Lenny Breau, Oliver Gannon, Sonny Greenwich, and from Bill Coon to Reg Schwager and Jocelyn Gould. You could fill an entire library of jazz music with those names alone.
To that roster you would have to add the name of Sam Wilson. The young east coast composer and virtuoso instrumentalist displays skill and mature judgement in the performance of her original works. She puts on an exquisite musical display on her fourth recording Wintertides, a homage to the landscapes of the two disparate coastlines of Canada.
Weaving ornate tapestries featuring wonderfully colour-laden notes and phrases Wilson – together with bassist Gordie Hart and drummer Jen Yakamovich – offer subtle, often striking, interpretations of Wilson’s superbly-crafted and affecting miniatures.
Despite meditating on the single theme of relocating “bi-coastal” landscapes to a canvas of soundscapes the settings of each of the ten works couldn’t be more different. Melodic lines are eloquently ornamented. Slowly unfolding harmonies are stimulating, heightening the impressive, sweeping canvases from earth to sky. Dancing urgency of rhythms dapple the music as if adding curved brushstrokes to these musical canvases. The Moon Song and Wintertides are masterpieces.
