Acclaimed jazz drummer Matt Wilson to lead quartet in Ke-Nekt concert Nov. 29

Globally accomplished jazz drummer Matt Wilson will bring his Matt Wilson Quartet to SUNY Oswego for a Ke-Nekt Chamber Music Series concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Sheldon Hall ballroom.

Chris Lightcap on bass, Jeff Lederer on saxophone/clarinet and Kirk Knuffke on cornet will join Wilson. SUNY Oswego music faculty member Eric Schmitz, host for the event, will give a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.

"Matt plays all over the world, with the top jazz musicians in the world," said Schmitz, who has known the much-admired drummer since the Matt Wilson Quartet visited Schmitz's own undergraduate college, the University of Northern Iowa.

The quartet over its 21 years has sustained "the same energy, spirit and amazing musicianship they have shown for decades," he said.

Jazz at Lincoln Center wrote that Wilson shows "obvious and unadulterated joy. Wilson's sense of humor, tireless smile and spirited energy acts as the catalyst for everyone on stage and off feeling good and having FUN."

The New York-based Wilson has played with a long list of jazz and other greats, including Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello, Kenny Barron, John Zorn, Wynton Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell and Hank Jones.

A sideman on 250 CDs, the artist has released nine albums as a leader for Palmetto Records, as well as co-leading five additional titles. Wilson also leads Arts & Crafts, Christmas Tree-O and the Carl Sandburg Project. Matt Wilson Arts & Crafts played at SUNY Oswego in 2009.

Tickets for this and each concert in the Ke-Nekt series cost $15 ($5 for students), available at all SUNY Oswego box offices, online at tickets.oswego.edu or by calling 315-312-2141. Parking is included in the price of a ticket and is available in the employee and commuter lots adjacent to and across Washington Boulevard from Sheldon Hall. SUNY Oswego's Artswego and the music department sponsor the chamber music series.

"We've had a special relationship with Matt for a couple of decades," Schmitz said. "This is an opportunity to share with SUNY Oswego students the extraordinary privilege I first had as an undergraduate."

In that regard, Matt Wilson and colleagues will sit in the night after the Ke-Nekt concert with the Oswego State Jazz Ensemble, the "big band" among the groups participating in the free Oswego Jazz Ensembles Concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, in Waterman Theatre of Tyler Hall.