The veteran saxophonist taps decades of personal resonance, a trusted musical partner, and an expanded repertoire to craft a soundscape that transcends genre.
Steve Wilson has never been in a rush. With a career built alongside some of the most respected names in jazz, including Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Billy Childs, and Dianne Reeves, and a reputation the Wall Street Journal once described as essential to New York’s jazz landscape, he has earned the right to take his time. His latest album as a leader, Enduring Sonance, due May 1, 2026, on Smoke Sessions Records, is the product of that patience. It is a deeply personal collection of songs drawn from across his life, and it sounds like it.
How would you describe Enduring Sonance to someone hearing your music for the first time?
It is a collection of songs that I curated. Some of them go back to my pre-teens. These are songs you do not often hear in jazz, because we draw a lot on what is called the Great American Songbook and jazz standards. I wanted to draw from a different, expanded source. We have songs by Gino Vannelli, who was very popular in the ’70s and ’80s. Quincy Jones, who just about everybody knows from his work in every genre of music. George Cables, a highly respected veteran of the jazz world. Milton Nascimento from Brazil. And Eliana Elias, another Brazilian composer who has been based in America for many years.
What I would love for the listener to get is not just to hear these great songs and melodies, but the soundscape that we have created as a group, with vibraphone, saxophone, piano, bass, drums, and French horn on a couple of tunes. Hopefully that soundscape will stay with them for a long time.
These songs have been with you for decades. What finally made this the right moment to record them?
I have never felt compelled just to record a record for the sake of recording it. I only want to record when I have something to say artistically. I just turned 65 years old, and there are a lot of gifts that come with that. One is patience. Another is that you really get a chance to value those things, whether it is people in your life, music, art, whatever it might be. You start to take stock of those things that have been meaningful to you.
This project started as a ballad project, because I love ballads. As the repertoire came together, it revealed that it would be less of a ballad project and more about these just being great songs. Then I started hearing the particular personnel that could facilitate this, and that everyone would bring their beautiful, artistic voices to it.
Walk us through three songs on the album and why each one has meant so much to you personally.
We will lead off with Quiet Girl, composed by Billy Childs, one of the foremost pianists and composers in jazz, classical, and contemporary music. Billy is a six-time Grammy winner. He was Dianne Reeves’ first musical director in the 1980s and toured for many years with the great Freddie Hubbard. It is such a beautiful melody. As we put the arrangement together with Renee Rosnes, I started to hear French horn on it. I wanted to add another element. It touches me deeply, and I thought it would be perfect for this recording..
This project started as a ballads album but became something bigger. Where did the concept shift?
I knew it was not my intent to compose new music for this. I wanted to choose music that spoke to me and touched me deeply, because I felt that would allow me to be the most honest. And I knew right away that Renee Rosnes would be the musical partner to do the arrangements. Along with being a gifted pianist, she is a gifted composer and arranger, and we have known each other and worked together for over 35 years. I started thinking about a tune by Quincy Jones that I remember hearing as a teenager, the Gino Vannelli song from the ’70s, and the Milton Nascimento tune. I became aware of Nascimento because he was collaborating with Wayne Shorter, and Wayne’s record was Native Dancer. These tunes speak to what I wanted to do.
You and Renee Rosnes have a long history together. What does it feel like in the studio with that kind of history?
The number one word is trust. When you have that trust in the studio and on the bandstand, it is limitless as to what you can do together. With Renee, who I have known the longest, there is a certain simpatico that you have and you do not even have to speak about it. We are around the same age, so we have a generational understanding of the material. As she was doing the arrangements, there was enough room for everybody to bring their particular artistic voice to it. I did not want people to feel handcuffed. It helps me and inspires me to find something new in the music every time.
You pulled from jazz, pop, and film scores. What was the common thread that tied all of it together?
I said to the producers, this is going to sound antithetical, but my concept for this is not a jazz recording. Not that it is not a jazz recording, because there is improvisation, but I did not want it to be just a collection of melodies as a vehicle for everyone to solo on in a traditional jazz sense. I wanted it to speak to something bigger. I want the listener to come away with the feeling of this collective ensemble sound, as much as admiring each individual solo voice. When you sit down with albums from the ’60s and ’70s, you are getting the full experience: the melodies, the story behind the melodies, the composers, the source. That is what I was really after.
You’ve played alongside legends throughout your career. How has that shaped the way you approach your own albums?
I have been very blessed to work with so many great giants of this music: Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Buster Williams, Lionel Hampton, Mulgrew Miller. I have learned that everything you do has to have integrity. The last thing the world needs is another Steve Wilson recording just for the sake of it. I record because I have something to say and something to share, and I want it to last. Put people around you that will raise your level of artistry and bring insight and maturity to your projects. A listener will know when there is something honest in the music.
You have a five-night residency at Smoke Jazz Club around the album release. What can people expect from those shows?
They are not just going to hear songs from the recording. We are going to add to that repertoire, so I will probably have a couple of originals on the program. On a couple of those nights we have three sets, so I am putting together a program of about 15 to 16 songs for the entire run. They are going to hear Joe Locke, an amazing vibraphonist who is soulful and lyrical. Jay Anderson on bass, a beautiful musician and incredible soloist. Renee Rosnes, and we will probably do one or two of her songs because she is such a great composer. And Kendrick Scott, who is an amazing drummer. It is not just going to be five people on the stage who can play their instruments really well, but people who really have something to say as artists.
The Wall Street Journal called you essential to New York’s jazz landscape. What does that kind of recognition mean to you?
I am very flattered, because there are so many great musicians that I look up to who I consider to be just that, essential to the jazz landscape. To be looked upon as that is a huge honor. I have been here in New York for 38 years. This is my home, as well as my musical home. I am just humbled to be a part of this great community of musicians, veteran musicians, musicians of my generation, and up-and-coming musicians who are poised to take this music to the next step in evolution.
What do you hope people take away from Enduring Sonance?
Buy the LP if you can, and put it on a great sound system. Do not rush through it. Sit down with this record and give yourself time, because it is like a book or a movie. The way we have programmed it, it evolves, and if the listener gives themselves that space to listen from end to end, it is going to be very rewarding. We have chosen music that will speak to our humanity. We hope the listener will stay open to that and not just hear something on the surface.
Enduring Sonance is available May 1, 2026, on Smoke Sessions Records in limited edition LP, CD, and HD audio formats. Steve Wilson performs at Smoke Jazz Club in New York City from April 29 through May 3, 2026. Tickets and information are available at smokejazzclub.com.