Discography
Wilson's Way
Release Date: OCTOBER 9TH, 2026
Liner Notes:
In the best of songs the audience observes a single thought taking shape in the room. That thought inevitably includes complex human emotions which listeners can share, sometimes responding with a gasp, sometimes with a quiet nod and a lifted glass. In the best of trios, the performer is the trio, a singular voice woven of pianist, bassist and drummer. The piano makes room for the bass and the drums, the drummer punctuates, the bassist deepens the magic, and all make room for the attentive listener. The exchange is an intimate, fluid dance–alive, economical, free, constrained. Such is the nature of love.
In his new recording, Christopher Wilson has carved a path into the “trio” form. His “way” is crisp and elegant, swinging and smart, and the road leads to a table by the bandstand–where we are refreshed by standards made new and by new tunes grown in the good soil of songbook and bebop. Wilson has a clarity of tone that fits perfectly with bassist Alex Austin and drummer Isaiah Spencer. Together they make music new and familiar, unhurried and alive.
On this recording, Wilson includes “Bésame Mucho,” an oft-recorded jazz standard brought to life with Wilson’s distinct phrasing and Latin rhythms that remind us that it is, of course, a dance. The trio’s solos all find something fresh to say within these phrases–as they build toward a statement that is dramatic and deeply felt. Similarly, in Wilson’s hands, “Tu Recuerdo Y Yo,” the ballad’s slow, mysterious tone expresses a poignant narrative. “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” allows lots of space for the eloquence of Austin and Spencer as it moves us across a dance floor and into a memory of the first blush of love.
Wilson’s own compositions exhibit an eloquence born of years of study and immersion into the musical traditions of America and Europe. “Good Company” feels like a party, replete with R&B voicings. “Hallowed Be” draws on the power of call and response as it evokes the sacred underpinnings of the music. “Night Notes” moves into a lower register, showing restraint on the keys and offering Austin room to move. Though it is quite distinct, Wilson’s “Stillness” may recall the tone of Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece.” Both songs take the great musical risk of silence. “Stillness” invites the attentive listener into a quiet conversation with an active mind at its reflective best. The result is sad, haunting, and triumphant.
In an era dominated by technocrats and egomaniacs, by “artists” who offer flash in lieu of creativity, Wilson’s Way shows us a trio committed to craft, committed to submerging the ego for the benefit of the listener’s heart, which is waiting, after all, for someone to open it.
Michael Lauchlan
Reviews:
All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/wilsons-way-christopher-lucas-wilson-self-produced
Paris Move:
https://www.paris-move.com/reviews/christopher-lucas-wilson-trio-wilsons-way/
bebop spoken here:
https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2026/08/album-review-christopher-lucas-wilson.html
Solemn Moments
release date: January 20th, 2023
Liner Notes:
In an ever-evolving industry of modern culture, music serves to remind us of the expansive canvas of human connections. For it is in these very moments that we not only can feel a range of emotions, but we can bear witness to a yearning, nay a desire to be free. We are made new again these moments. In particular, "Solemn Moments" brings into focus that deeply human brooding, that genuine spirituality of question and seeking and this trio is no less an example of what happens when music touches the soul. Written during the course of the global pandemic when the world seemed to shut down, Chicago-based pianist explores the complexity of emotions felt during this time. Deeply personal and moving, Wilson moves us from pain to hopeful optimism. Joined by a phenomenal, capable rhythm section, bassist Noah Jackson and drummer Jesse Kramer bring together a palette of 4 original compositions and 4 new arrangements brilliantly displaying a range of emotions that speak well of the human experience.
The title track opens with a meditative, almost somber mood, reflective of the period in which it was written. The trio weaves together a rich tapestry of harmonic interplay. Wilson’s fascinating touch on the piano is evident by his swinging, rhythmic beauty. As one continues to listen, the swing rises and captures the resilient nature of those who have endured such perilous times. The blues is what happens when tragedy occurs, but swing is how we get back up and live!
"We See" is a composition by bebop pioneer Thelonious Monk. The impact of Monk’s technique and organic sound is heard as Wilson evokes an almost transcendent feeling. The trio’s rendition of this tune sparks the imagination. Wilson also credits this tune to his university piano professor Rick Roe, whose own guidance has deeply enriched Wilson’s journey. These influences combine to show Wilson’s own melodic inventiveness throughout this piece.
In "Misnomer" one can hear the blues idiom rise and fall, cascading with a medium tempo feeling. The trio lays down the groove as Wilson builds with intensity throughout this piece. Jackson’s bassline stroll supports the pianist’s almost magical soloing. This tune comes alive in the drummer’s solo as well. Its melody that is sure to keep the listener engaged.
In the ballad "Una Pa’ Rosita," the trio takes us on a journey. This piece was inspired during a stay-at-home order when Wilson’s child observed the transition of a caterpillar to a butterfly. Jackson’s remarkable solo draws us closer still, to a moment that life indeed is elegant even in the midst of pain, speaking to us where words fail. We feel those moments at times, but never giving up.
"A Familiar Feeling (Benny’s Beat)" is shamelessly and unapologetic bluesy, like a lover swaying those hips on a Saturday night, ‘cause the feelin’ is right….and babe if you don’t grab me while the night is young, this love won’t stay forever. Down-home folk having a good time and laughing the night away. It’s sassy!!! Just plain ole’ feel good music.
"Mañha de Carnaval" is a Brazilian tune. With many on-the-spot arrangements from this trio, this one was also developed on the bandstand. It shows the trio’s melodic inventiveness, as one is reminded of a calypo-like dirge. Each band member responds to each other with ease. Beginning slow and whimsical, melancholy loneliness that suddenly becomes open and playful.
"La Media Vuelta" is a solo piano piece. It is a very famous Mexican ranchera, written by the legendary musician, Jose Alfredo Jimenez. The subtle approach is affectionate, joyous, tender and slips into a classic jazz ballad. While traveling in Mexico, the land made a deep impact upon his view of the world as Wilson fell in love with this artist’s music. With this tune, Wilson is reminded of the moments he shared with family and friends in Northern Mexico and Southern California.
"Nocturne in Eb Major" is a familiar classical piece written in 1882 by Chopin. This tune is a moment that is reminiscent of Wilson’s children's bedtime routines. It displays a medium tempo swing feel, supported by Kramer’s brush strokes that are fanciful and brilliant.
Solemn Moments captures the rare beauty that we often find in a trio setting. While difficult moments speak to life’s changing ways, we are made new by music that enriches the human experience. This album takes us on a journey through complex emotions. Always pursuing grace, witnessing to something better, and while we may want to turn back we cannot give up hope, because in the end we are made better for it. And here we are, with the artist and his vision—calling us to a home and a place for us all. Won’t you come?
- Reverend Millard F. Southern III
Reviews:
All About Jazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/solemn-moments-christopher-lucas-wilson-self-produced
bebop spoken here: https://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2023/01/album-review-christopher-lucas-wilson.html
Jazz Weekly: https://www.jazzweekly.com/2023/03/christopher-lucas-wilson-trio-solemn-moments/
Leaving Los Angeles
Release Date: August 9th, 2019
Liner Notes:
July 2, 2019— In Leaving Los Angeles Christopher Wilson reminds us once again why we need music. He offers us new compositions and standards in a mature voice that we instantly trust... What is voice? We know whether we are listening to Oscar Peterson or Thelonious Monk, whether we are reading James Baldwin or Alice Munro. We can name craft elements that make one work different from another, but voice remains ineffable. As writers and musicians, we know the importance of voice early on, having found it and trusted it in those we admire. Then we set off to do something new and wonderful, and go to great extremes trying to make ourselves distinct—and often blunder into imitation and appropriation. I can’t picture Monk imitating anyone, or worrying over whether he was sufficiently distinct. And I’m fairly sure that my mother did absolutely nothing to develop an individual voice, except for smoking a pack of cigarettes a day—and telling the truth. Some of us are lucky that way. Others are lucky enough to find a mentor who reminds us that the artform is bigger than our egos. Christopher Wilson lives in a beautiful house. I haven’t gotten out to the coast to visit Christopher and his family, but I’ve entered his house while he played Baker’s in Detroit. Where there might be walls, there are giants—Ellington, Basie—holding up a roof. Fortunately for us, this roof serves also as a bandshell. Wilson’s voice, crisp and mellifluous, moves through the great rooms like sunlight where curtains have parted... In “Eloise’s Blues” and “Trilingual,” Christopher has composed bright, crisp tunes that allow him to explore the range of a trio. Wilson brings standards to life—” Speak Low,” “Softly as a Morning Sunrise”—channeling some of the voicings of Ella Fitzgerald and Wynton Marsalis and making them new. Wilson’s unhurried elegance allows “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” to escape from cliche and carry forward the sober vulnerability of actual love. Like all the great versions, Christopher lets the stunning melodies and cadences perform their magic. He plays the damn songs. He lets them sing...
—Michael Lauchlan, author of Trumbull Ave., Wayne State University Press, 2015
Feelin' Better
Release Date: October 4th, 2014
Liner Notes:
"Your songs, when you sing them with your two eyes closed, as you always do, are like a local road we've known every turn of in the past." From 'At the Wellhead' by Seamus Heaney—Before the lyric came the lyre with its incantatory power to lead the dance, to link all for a few measures of breathlessness and to regulate dancing, singing, and breathing itself. Reaching wordlessly across the rift separating human from human, music is the balm of Gilead, the history of Gilead, and all that's left of Gilead. During a recent Detroit Jazz Fest, I heard the octogenarian Barry Harris hold a crowd in thrall with a set of trio classics. When he finished, I heard the deep silence that undergirds music. An inner voice spoke up, saying, that's what music is, what we hope, at our very best, to be. When the time capsule is loaded into our last departing spaceship, that's the human residue we'll want to offer to sentient, and hopefully wiser, beings...Hearing Christopher Wilson's fine recording, I had a similar moment of recognition. This is what music can do and must do. Chris reaches across to an audience with a cadence that slides below language, that arrives early in our heart's dark chambers and flips on a light to guide whatever language might follow. Listen to "Polda Dots and Moonbeams" and "Stars Fell on Alabama" and hear him shape cadences as though Ella and Sarah were whispering in his ears. In light of Wilson's compassionate work for homeless teens, we hear, "Feeling Better," a song "safe-space," a minor chorded bulwark against ugly forces which objectify and violate the young and vulnerable. ..There are players who skate more, players with more driving rhythms and more 'original' versions. With drummer Harry McKenzie and bassist Blake White, Wilson has sought a qualify more nuanced and more essential. For listeners thirsty for 'notes...like hoisted water/ravelling of a bucket,' for the generous lyricism that left the planet with Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan, Chris Wilson is a reminder that our musical well is deep and fresh, that a new generation of players can still lead us to it.
—Michael Lauclan, auth of Trumbull Ave, Wayne State University Press