| Jazz |
A Sonic Mosaic: Sarah Wilson’s “Brass Tonic” Defies Jazz Conventions With Poetic Precision
Among the most compelling figures in contemporary jazz today is Sarah Wilson, a composer and trumpeter whose newest release, Brass Tonic, challenges the boundaries of genre while offering an experience that is both deeply cerebral and radiantly soulful. With a rare sense of precision and care in her writing, Wilson crafts music that’s both offbeat and inspired, inviting the listener into an intellectual and emotional journey. Her compositions ripple with complexity, drawing from the wells of jazz, classical traditions, and world music to create a tapestry that bursts like fireworks in slow motion, exhilarating, rich, and surprising in its restraint.
Though Brass Tonic only made its stage debut in 2022, the roots of this bold musical statement stretch back more than two decades. Wilson first made her mark composing and performing with Himalayas, a radical jazz orchestra led by New York drummer Kenny Wollesen. But perhaps the seeds were sown even earlier, during her formative years touring globally with Vermont’s Bread & Puppet Theater, a politically charged, community-centered troupe that blurred the line between performance and protest in the 1990s. “My music comes out of street theater and New Orleans traditions,” Wilson says. “It’s always meant to be danced to. Brass band music is usually simple, but I wanted to elevate it, keep the feel, but add layers of sophistication.”
But as striking as that mission statement may be, it doesn’t quite capture the full depth of what Brass Tonic accomplishes. This is not merely an experiment in polished brass-band aesthetics. Wilson offers a world, her world, unfolding track by track like a collection of vibrant postcards sent from a lifetime of artistic travels. Drawing from her earlier activist work and her time with ensembles like the Montclair Women’s Big Band, Wilson brings a clear and purposeful feminist vision to this new sextet. “I was very intentional,” she explains. “It’s empowering to work in a group where women are not just present but leading, and especially to feature only women in the horn section. Brass, in both classical and jazz traditions, still lags behind in terms of equity.”
And whether one listens with that intention in mind or not, the impact is unmistakable. There is something different in the interplay here, in the phrasing, in the space between notes, in the trust built into every solo and ensemble passage. The music feels freer, more lyrical, yet unmistakably precise. There’s a poetic looseness, a refusal to conform to the over-worn formulas of male-dominated jazz lineups. Each musician in the group appears wholly committed not only to their own voice but to the collective sound, a rarity in jazz albums that often feel driven by individual bravado. In Wilson’s world, even solos emerge gently, organically, as if growing out of the melodic soil rather than being spotlighted performances. And for those familiar with the sunlit, rhythmic swing of Pacific Island traditions, like those from Tahiti, there’s a trace of that dancing warmth pulsing beneath the surface here.
Visual art is another guiding light for Wilson, and that influence is evident in the contemplative atmosphere that permeates the album. Her compositions are bathed in color and light; each one feels like a canvas, layered, textured, built slowly and intentionally. She invites not just passive listening but active reflection. The architecture of her music is complex but never obscure, the result of years spent honing a multifaceted artistic identity.
This is not an album for background noise, it’s an experience that demands attention, a journey to undertake. And for those willing to make that journey, Incandescence offers rich rewards: insight, emotion, and a renewed sense of what jazz, and artistry, can be.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 26th 2025
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Musicians:
Sarah Wilson (trumpet)
Kasey Knudsen (alto sax)
Mara Fox (trombone)
John Schott (guitar)
Lisa Mezzacappa (bass)
Jon Arkin (drums on tracks 6, 7, 8, 9 & 11)
Tim Bulkley (drums on tracks 1-5 & 10)
Tracklist:
Architecture In Space
Incandescence
Hopeful Sorrow
Music Appears To Stand Still
Epilogue
Jubilant
Dancing With Cierra
Fully Unfolding
Lullaby
Trifecta
Echoes Refrain
All compositions written by Sarah Wilson, Sasstone Music, ASCAP.
All rights reserved.
Produced by Hans Wendl and Sarah Wilson
Recorded April 13 & 14, 2024 by Adam Muñoz at 25th Street Recording, Oakland, California
Mixing & additional recording by Adam Muñoz
Album gratefully made possible through the Musical Grant Program administered by InterMusic SF and supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts.