tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post6423538510290406846..comments2024-03-26T01:59:52.206-04:00Comments on Just outside: Brian Olewnickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-88281947009563461872010-10-19T06:54:31.788-04:002010-10-19T06:54:31.788-04:00in the '70's in St. Louis, BB's Jazz, ...in the '70's in St. Louis, BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups: Howard Johnson, playing as a pick-up with Daryl Mixon on bass and Phillip Wilson on drums. I sat in front of the drums and couldn't believe his self possession, fire, insouciance and dynamics, sometimes his rolls exploding from the kit.<br /><br />yearslater, in the '80's walking down Delmar Blvd in University City past Cicero's, hearing this amazing drum playing from the basement, a jazz drummer, both loose and funky, playing with the most amazing dynamics. even though I suspected it was him, I was shocked to peer down and see him, the only musician to have played with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and at Woodstock.CrocodileChuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10762442097044797842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-88327654905847580892009-05-11T15:57:00.000-04:002009-05-11T15:57:00.000-04:00Had the great good fortune to catch Mr. Wilson in ...Had the great good fortune to catch Mr. Wilson in action once, in an Anthony Braxton quartet with Wadada Leo Smith and Dave Holland. It's a shame no recordings appear to exist of this short-lived unit.Bombshelter Slimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-51476999328564743982008-10-31T11:31:00.000-04:002008-10-31T11:31:00.000-04:00I found a picture of him on discogs.com. It's not...I found a picture of him on discogs.com. It's not a particularly good one, sad to say. The first time I remember hearing him was on Butterfield's <I>In My Own Dream</I> (which I remember not liking so much because there wasn't enough guitar, guitar, guitar-ar-ar; yeah I was young and stoopid) being mentioned as one of Elvin Bishop's buddies "and Wilson too" on the boozy narrative to "Drunk Again".<BR/><BR/>His drumming first made me sit up and take notice on "Old" off <I>Old/Quartet</I> by Roscoe Mitchell's Quartet. I recently ran across a download of a trio of his with Leo Smith and Johnny Dyani on Circle Records <I>Fruits</I> that holds up pretty damn well (I remember seeing it in rekkid stores in the late 70s and never pulled the trigger).Captain Hatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07663784368925841294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-33343244979653187532008-10-25T20:23:00.000-04:002008-10-25T20:23:00.000-04:00Hey, Brian.I had the intense pleasure of seeing Wi...Hey, Brian.<BR/><BR/>I had the intense pleasure of seeing Wilson with Frank Lowe's quartet at the Tin Palace on my first night in New York in 1978 around Christmastime. The other players were Fred Hopkins and Olu Dara. Wilson bashed his drums so bad he had to borrow a bass drum pedal from Stanley Crouch, who then proceeded to beat up a woman at the bar. I went into the bathroom to blow my nose and Lowe came in with "Hey! Let me have a piece of that!" thinking, I guess, that I was shoveling snow up my nostrils.<BR/><BR/>Those were the good old days!<BR/><BR/>The music was fantastic, of course. Phillip Wilson had this incredible loose-yet-tight funkiness to his playing, no matter the groove or nongroove. Lowe made a deep impression on me as well, with a Sonny Rollins-level intelligence showing in every phrase. Instead of the celebrated improviser practice of weeding out all the notes you "shouldn't" play before playing them, Lowe seemed to take every phrase and try it every way he could think of playing it, rhythmically and melodically accordioning and touch-typing each one, on the beat, against the beat, etc. until he moved to the next one. Morton Feldman's approach and the writing of Beckett come to mind for comparison.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com