A jazz gem and a remix in dub
‘Gathering Call’ Matt Wilson Quartet + John Medeski
Palmetto
You can’t talk about drummer Matt Wilson without talking about swing, that pulse of jazz that’s been his specialty on more than 250 recordings as a sideman. Reconvening his longtime quartet, Wilson again shines with some unexpected help in keyboardist John Medeski.
Often lumped into some jam-band ghetto for his ventures with the avant-funk trio Medeski Martin and Wood, Medeski’s talents have long been harder to pigeonhole, including a contemplative solo record in 2013. Here, he’s a precisely moving part on an album that should be mandatory listening for traditionalists and jazz-curious Phish-heads alike.
“Some Assembly Required” crackles through an irresistible thrust from Wilson, who gives way to sterling solos from saxophonist Jeff Lederer and cornetist Kirk Knuffke before Medeski enters with a gleefully off-kilter turn. Wilson takes a playful run at the Ellington songbook with “Main Stem” and “You Dirty Dog,” and “How Ya Going” surges with a locomotive rush as the band twists the song into knots.
“Get Over, Get Off and Get On” sparkles with vintage soul jazz, and Charlie Rouse’s “Pumpkin’s Delight” glides over Chris Lightcap’s nimble bass line before a howling solo from Lederer. Even Beyoncé comes to the party with a romantic take on “If I Were a Boy” that’s as exuberant as the rest of the album. It’s a call worth picking up.
‘Have Fun With God’
Bill Callahan
Drag City
A companion to last year’s acclaimed “Dream River,” Bill Callahan’s new “Have Fun With God” is a remix record that reimagines each of the eight tracks as though channeled through Kingston, Jamaica. This is Bill Callahan in dub: bass-heavy, echoed examinations of “Dream River” songs that have been stripped of much of their structure to create something else altogether.
The practice was common in 1970s reggae, when artists such as Burning Spear and Peter Tosh offered both studio recordings and “versions” of the same song. The most influential producers, most notably King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry, helped give birth to remix culture.
“Summer Dub” samples the phrase “I painted … “and loops it among psychedelic atmospherics, reverbdrenched flute and percussion. At one point the track nearly consumes itself with echoes of echoes. “Expanding Dub” focuses on the bass-line from “Javelin Unlanding,” working the track’s heavy bottom end while snippets of keyboard and guitars bounce around in the background.
As a stand-alone entity, “Have Fun …” is a mesmerizing, and utterly strange, listen. Though hardly essential for anyone but hardcore fans, it’s a solid stab at the subgenre. Now if only he’d follow this with a Houston-style “chop and screw” rap album.