Guitarist Dan Wilson has announced his forthcoming album Things Eternal, the follow-up to 2021’s Vessels of Wood and Earth.
It’s Wilson’s second album with Brother Mister Productions, his mentor Christian McBride’s imprint under the Mack Avenue Music Group umbrella. McBride also served as co-producer on the project.
The album includes popular songs by The Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Sting, along with jazz classics by McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock and Phillip Jones.
Listen to the lead single “Sticology” below:
Wilson says he chose the Phillip Jones tune because he feels it’s a regional treasure.
“It contains everything that I like about music: a driving bass line, a singable melody and well-structured harmony,” says Wilson. “We had a chance to develop this arrangement over multiple performances last summer, and this recording represents the culmination of that time spent on the road. I have great respect and admiration for Phillip Jones, the composer who wrote the song when he was just 17 years old. The song is considered a classic in my hometown in Northeast Ohio, and I want to share it with whoever will listen.”
The track begins with a gently teasing voice message from legendary organist Joey DeFrancesco, whose sudden death in 2022 was mourned throughout the jazz community. Wilson’s grandmother also makes a voicemail appearance later on the album.
“This album is centred around the shock of losing a lot of people that were central to my upbringing,” Wilson says. “I’ve been seeing a grief counsellor who draws on African religion and spirituality, and he suggested creating a shrine to memorialize some of the people that I’ve lost. In a way, that’s what this album is, and it’s been therapeutic.”
Here’s the track listing:
- Sticology
- Since a Hatchet Was a Hammer
- Eleanor Rigby
- For Tomorrow Bass Intro
- For Tomorrow
- Things Eternal
- Bird Like
- Smile Please
- Tell Me a Bedtime Story
- Pilgrimage Intro
- Pilgrimage
- Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
Dan Wilson’s Things Eternal is out May 19, 2023, via Mack Avenue.
