That's Gonna Leave A Mark

We Say...

Review by Britt Robson

This is Wilson's best collection since Humidity in 2003 — which, not coincidentally, was the last time Wilson recorded the quartet with ferocious saxophonists Andrew D'Angelo and Jeff Lederer in the front line. The pair waste little time before flinging thunderbolt phrases in tandem and opposition on "Shooshabuster," giving it the aggressive lyricism of a poetry slam. D'Angelo (on tenor) and Lederer (alto) each pour sweet and sour sauce redolent of vintage David Murray, Arthur Blythe, Booker Ervin and Archie Shepp, and the buoyancy of Wilson's instantly recognizable beats aerates the densest soundscapes. The result is a collective groove and sensibility supple enough to bridge not only the "outside/inside" (avant-garde/mainstream) divide, the gulf in self-identification that too often opens between intense, rigorous artistes and mischievous, fun-loving bandmates. That D'Angelo was recovering from operations to remove malignant brain tumors in and around these sessions only adds to the intensity and camaraderie.

The band has it both ways throughout the swagger of "Area Man," named after a series of articles in the satirical Onion newspaper, and during the krazy-kat fervor of the Ornettish title track. Other highlights include "Rear Control," where D'Angelo and Lederer trade their saxes for clarinets, and a cover of John Lewis's "Two Bass Hit," in which Wilson abandons all self-effacement to approximate the spongy virtuosity of Lewis cohort Philly Joe Jones.

As Wilson says in the liner notes, the meaning of the record's title is twofold, encapsulating the idea of landing with bruising force and creating a positive communal legacy. To drive home the latter point, he bows out with a feel-good singalong cover tune, War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" complete with friends and family in the chorus. For die-hard sentimentalists only.