Are you a musician who has performed at Smalls or Mezzrow in the past and doesn’t have an artist account then please contact us directly at musician@smallslive.com.
The SmallsLIVE Foundation for Jazz Art & Education is a not-for-profit arts organization.
Our mission is to subsidize the operation of our venues, recording projects, tours and educational initiatives.
During this Covid-19 pandemic our mission is to keep the clubs floating until business can be restored.
We will also sponsor live-streamed concerts from the club that will keep the musicians working during this period.
We will also be offering emergency aid for Jazz musicians in need due to this calamity.
Archive
The SmallsLIVE Archive is an audio/video library of all the shows at Smalls & Mezzrow.
Royalties are paid directly to the musicians by The SmallsLIVE Foundation.
Members sponsor their favorite musicians by listening to their music.
Live Stream
Smalls Jazz Club has been a pioneer in live streaming and began streaming shows live from the venue in 2007.
There is no cost to watch our live streams. During normal operating times the entire evening is streamed.
During this Covid-19 pandemic period there will be special live concerts scheduled in advance.
SmallsLIVE Catalog
The SmallsLIVE Catalog is a collection of individually produced artist projects.
SmallsLIVE Members may sponsor artists of their choice and receive their music as downloads or CDs.
Sponsorships directly support the artist.
Matt Wilson
Drums
Recently Added
01/02/2024
Mezzrow
Falkner Evans , Belden Bullock & Matt Wilson
12/23/2023
Smalls
Pete Malinverni Trio
12/22/2023
Smalls
Pete Malinverni Trio
10/24/2023
Mezzrow
Joris Teepe, Leo Genovese & Matt Wilson
10/18/2023
Mezzrow
Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison & Matt Wilson
09/19/2023
Smalls
Matt Wilson Quartet
08/08/2023
Mezzrow
Falkner Evans, Belden Bullock & Matt Wilson
06/01/2023
Mezzrow
Oran Etkin, Eric Lewis & Matt Wilson
04/29/2023
Mezzrow
Mark Soskin, Jay Anderson & Matt Wilson
04/28/2023
Mezzrow
Mark Soskin, Jay Anderson & Matt Wilson
04/08/2023
Mezzrow
Larry Goldings, Joe Martin & Matt Wilson
04/07/2023
Mezzrow
Larry Goldings, Joe Martin & Matt Wilson
10/18/2022
Mezzrow
Jeremy Siskind, Jay Anderson & Matt Wilson
10/03/2022
Smalls
Matt Wilson Quartet
09/17/2022
Mezzrow
Mark Soskin, Jay Anderson & Matt Wilson
04/27/2022
Mezzrow
Joris Teepe, Leo Genovese & Matt Wilson
09/27/2021
Smalls
Matt Wilson Quartet - Birthday Bash
09/17/2021
Smalls
Mark Soskin Quartet
07/06/2020
Smalls
Ken Peplowski Quartet
06/28/2019
Mezzrow
Bill Mays, Martin Wind & Matt Wilson
05/04/2019
Mezzrow
Denny Zeitlin, Buster Williams & Matt Wilson
11/07/2018
Smalls
Loren Stillman & Steve Cardenas Quartet feat. Ben Allison and Matt Wilson
09/12/2018
Smalls
Joris Teepe Quintet
05/05/2018
Mezzrow
Denny Zeitlin with Buster Williams & Matt Wilson
05/04/2018
Mezzrow
Denny Zeitlin with Buster Williams & Matt Wilson
04/09/2018
Smalls
Joel Frahm Trio
12/01/2017
Smalls
Braden-Teepe-Wilson aka "Trio of Liberty"
07/10/2017
Smalls
The Dave Glasser Quartet
04/22/2017
Mezzrow
Denny Zeitlin w. Buster Williams and Matt Wilson
04/21/2017
Mezzrow
Denny Zeitlin w. Buster Williams and Matt Wilson
10/20/2016
Smalls
The Joris Teepe Quartet
09/26/2016
Smalls
The Carol Morgan Quartet
08/20/2016
Mezzrow
Dena DeRose w/ Martin Wind, Matt Wilson
08/19/2016
Mezzrow
Dena DeRose w/ Martin Wind, Matt Wilson
06/03/2016
Smalls
The Patrick Wolff Quartet
03/13/2016
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Quintet
10/22/2015
Smalls
The Matt Wilson Quartet
09/20/2015
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Quintet
08/01/2015
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
07/31/2015
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
01/13/2015
Smalls
The Yonathan Avishai Trio
12/27/2014
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
12/26/2014
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
09/06/2014
Smalls
The Aaron Diehl Quartet
09/05/2014
Smalls
The Aaron Diehl Quartet
06/15/2014
Smalls
The Kyoko Oyobe Quartet
05/04/2014
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Quintet
01/02/2014
Smalls
The Dena DeRose Trio
01/01/2014
Smalls
The Dena DeRose Trio
11/01/2013
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
09/29/2013
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Group
03/24/2013
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Group
03/16/2013
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
03/15/2013
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
09/22/2012
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Group
07/19/2012
Smalls
The Joris Teepe Trio
07/14/2012
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
07/13/2012
Smalls
The Ken Peplowski Quartet
04/26/2012
Smalls
The Matt Wilson Quartet
03/12/2012
Smalls
The Joel Frahm Quartet
03/10/2012
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Quintet
03/08/2012
Smalls
The Noah Preminger Group
11/23/2011
Smalls
The Noah Preminger Quintet
11/12/2011
Smalls
The Larry Gelb Trio
10/25/2011
Smalls
The Paul Tillotson Trio
10/01/2011
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Quintet
05/06/2011
Smalls
The Mark Soskin Quartet
10/01/2010
Smalls
The Mark Soskin Quartet
08/03/2009
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Trio
07/01/2009
Smalls
Trio M
02/04/2009
Smalls
The Joan Stiles Trio & Joel Frahm
01/26/2009
Smalls
The Falkner Evans Trio
12/06/2008
Smalls
The Mark Soskin Quartet
12/05/2008
Smalls
The Mark Soskin Quartet
06/01/2008
Smalls
The Kurt Rosenwinkel Quartet
03/01/2008
Smalls
The Tim Armacost Quintet
02/29/2008
Smalls
The Tim Armacost Quintet
02/06/2008
Smalls
The Brandon Wright Quartet
Upcoming Shows
My storybecause all of you care to know!
I was born in the prairie town of Knoxville, Illinois September 27th 1964. I was lucky to have cool parents who encouraged me in my creative pursuits where it was music, theater, writing or weird art. I became interested in playing the drums in the third grade after seeing Buddy Rich on the Lucy Show. He was judging a local drum contest featuring Ricky Jr. a fine drummer. Inspired, I pooled together some capital and purchased some Ludwig 9a sticks at the local Byerly Music store. With sticks in hand I began exploring a wide range of suitable cookware and five gallon buckets as sound sources. Soon my parents made in investment in a used of brand snare drum drum and cymbal. My middle brother played the saxophone and we immersed in the local PTA and 4H concert circuit at a very young age. It was quite a duo, Mark with his Beuscher tenor and me with my minimalist set up of orange sparkle snare drum and 10 sheet metal cymbal. We had a book that explored all of the hits of the 60's and 70's. (We were serious Herb Alpert afficiandos). We even had some cool schtick: I guess times have not really changed.
I played in all of the groups in school and finally learned how to read music.I had a cool high school band director who started hiring me to play drums in his weekend dance band. I t was fun and I made some cash which was nice for an eighth grader. Soon I was playing in local groups of all kinds. A big band, very creative rock band called Common Denominator, country bands, Dixieland bands anything I could play. I was also extremely fortunate to study with a great local drummer who taught me music not just how to play fast. He was very inspirational and was very helpful in my pre paring for college.
I went to college at Wichita State University and there was exposed to one of the most influential mentors of my career, Dr. JC Combs. He is not only a fantastic percussionist but he possesses one of the most creatively fertile imaginations on the planet. We played percussion works featuring a wide array of strange components. Pinball machines, cloggers, bowlers and professional wrestlers all were standard fare. He also instilled in me a true entrepreneurial spirit. Combs always knew how to market and get folks to the concerts that were always sold out no matter how bizarre. My colleagues were equally insane and it was a inspirational environment to spend my college years.
Wichita also had a lot of great opportunities to work so I kept quite a busy schedule between working and school. Sleeping in one of the huge lecture classes was common.
I am grateful for all of the experience I gained from years in Wichita.
I am also grateful for Wichita for it is where I met my wife Felicia who was a hot shot violin major from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We met our freshman year in school and married in August of 1987. The fall of 1987 we loaded up the Ryder truck, 1984 Chevy Citation in tow and moved to Boston where she got her masters from New England Conservatory.
Boston was hopping and I took full advantage to see and play with everyone I could. I had the wonderful opportunity to play, tour and record with some great bands and musicians including the Either/Orchestra, Charlie Kohlhase Quintet, Bevan Manson, John Medeski, Dominique Eade and countless others. It was a great place to be and the many of my Boston colleagues have gone on to be some of the most influential musicians of their generation.
Two words began to echo in my brain New York. I knew it was time and with encouragement from folks like Cecil McBee and Andrew Cyrille we decided to head south to the Big Apple. I loved the energy of the scene immediately and began playing with some amazing musicians.
Weblinks:
www.mattwilsonjazz.com