Sarah Wilson: Incandescence
Brass Tonic Records

When trumpeter Sarah Wilson encountered the work of Viennese artist Thomas Reinhold at the State Gallery of Lower Austria during a 2023 artist residency in Krems, she remembered thinking, “These incredible paintings just looked like music to me.” That moment proved pivotal in the creation of her new album Incandescence, which draws direct inspiration from Reinhold's paintings, but it's not the first time Wilson's created music with ties to visual art. A decade before that Austria sojourn, she collaborated at San Francisco's de Young Museum on a music-dance performance inspired by Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas.

Her connection to Reinhold's work was able to deepen when she was granted the rare opportunity to set up a mobile studio in the gallery and write music in real time with the paintings around her. She even visited with the artist at his studio and discovered that his process is extremely methodical and layered—an approach that naturally resonated with Wilson in the thoughtful way she develops her own material. Three compositions on the release, “Architecture in Space,” “Music Appears to Stand Still,” and “Echoes Refrain,” originated from the time of that residency, but their oft-celebratory tone carries over into the eight other pieces.

Issued on her own Brass Tonic Records and featuring her Brass Tonic ensemble, Incandescence is not only informed by Reinhold's abstract imagery but also the soulful community-based traditions of brass band and New Orleans parade tunes; there's as much high-spirited street music, Afro-Latin grooves, and New Orleans-styled shuffles as there is jazz. Wilson surrounds herself with superb partners, with alto saxophonist Kasey Knudsen and trombonist Mara Fox joining her on the front-line and guitarist John Schott, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, and, alternately, drummers Jon Arkin and Tim Bulkley holding down the rhythms. With such estimable talents on hand, the trumpeter's latest proves to be as rewarding a listen as 2021's Kaleidoscope.

Certainly the street music and marching band dimensions of Wilson's music give it immediacy and enhance its accessibility, but it's hardly simple. The vibrant opener “Architecture in Space” pulls one into Wilson's world effortlessly with a smooth, supple groove and warm horn textures and counterpoint. With Bulkley and Mezzacappa buoying the music infectiously, Knudsen and Schott entwine grandly before the bassist takes her own punchy turn. After Fox introduces the crisp swing-shuffle of the title track, the band settles into a funky Afro-jazz groove that's got more than a little of that joyous New Orleans vibe worked into its frame. While the trombonist brays forcefully through her solo, Knudsen comes at hers teasingly until unleashing a series of spirited volleys. Those opening performances suggest Wilson's less concerned with featuring herself as the band's primary soloist and instead more focused on crafting its compositions and arrangements. That said, the sweetly singing third setting, “Hopeful Sorrow,” does feature her in a soloing capacity, and with Arkin animating the band with a slinky shuffle and Wilson delivering a florid solo, things turn swampy for “Jubilant.”

September 2025