He drums up support, playfully

To hear Matt Wilson play drums is to hear him playing in several senses of the word. His witty, mature mastery at the trap set bursts with the joyous intensity of a child at play. And there's no doubting that he plays well with others. So well, in fact, that for more than a decade he has been sideman-of-choice for storied veterans such as Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, and the late Dewey Redman.

Wilson, 42, also leads two fine groups of his own, the Matt Wilson Quartet and Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts. The quartet features drums, bass, and two saxophones, while Arts & Crafts replaces the saxophones with Terell Stafford's trumpet and flugelhorn and Gary Versace's piano, organ, and accordion.

Tuesday night, Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts swings through Scullers in support of its just-released third CD, "The Scenic Route." The band's name hints at the goofy sense of humor that is one of Wilson's hallmarks. But what matters most to him is the interplay of a group of musicians who genuinely enjoy hanging out together on and off the bandstand. As he said on the telephone from his Long Island home, "I'm just lucky to have these great friends that I also get to play music with."

Arts & Crafts draws with ease not only on the history of jazz, but from many different styles of American music. Yet, rather than being an exercise in pastiche, it all sounds organic. "In this band," Wilson said, "everybody has dealt with so many types of music that they're not opposed to anything. It's really very easy. I just pick some songs and let 'em go.

"With great musicians," Wilson said, "it's the people. You give great musicians whatever kind of material and they know how to make it work. There's a lot of different sounds we can draw upon in what we call jazz. And then there's what we can draw upon in the other musics we've all grown up with."

Trumpeter Stafford, 40, first played with Wilson at a one-off gig in New Orleans. "We had a complete ball, just so much fun," he said from his home in Princeton, N.J. "A year went by," Stafford said, "and I got a call from Matt saying 'I want to do a record; I want to have you on it.' He mentioned [bassist] Dennis Irwin, who I'd known, and [pianist and organist] Larry Goldings, who I'd never played with but always admired. Wow!"

When the proposed band first met, Stafford said, "we played a few tunes, maybe a half-hour. And then Matt goes, 'Yep, this is the group.' A week later we went into the studio and recorded the first Arts & Crafts record." The self-titled disc went on to become one of the most acclaimed jazz recordings of 2001.

"The thing I respect about Matt," Stafford said, "is that he has a vision. Matt is really serious about groove and swing, but he's also really serious about spontaneity and creativity. And there's such a sense of trust on the bandstand with him. I feel like I could literally go any direction and the guys on the bandstand would have my back . "

On Arts & Crafts' delightful new "Scenic Route," the multitalented Versace replaces founding member Goldings. The title tune begins the journey, with Wilson putting his own spin on a boogaloo beat, aided by Stafford's funky Harmon-muted melody, Versace's chortling organ, and Irwin's romping bass. Highlights include the gospel-tinged "25 Years of Rootabagas," with Stafford putting serious Louis Armstrong backspin on his solo; Bobby Hutcherson's tender and foreboding waltz "Little B's Poem," with Versace's delicate piano intro and coda; and Wilson's adventurous, bluesy tribute to the abiding influence of Redman, "In Touch With Dewey."

Wilson was born in Knoxville, Ill., and first fell in love with drums in the third grade, when he saw Buddy Rich playing on an episode of "Here's Lucy." He attended Wichita State University, where he met his wife-to-be, Felicia. As an aspiring drummer in the Midwest, to keep working he had to play every style of music, from country to rock to cocktail jazz. But he credits his musical coming of age and wide-open ears to his time in Boston. When Felicia, a classical violinist, came to the New England Conservatory, Wilson followed and soon became a ubiquitous presence on the jazz scene, drumming for everyone from vocalist and composer Dominique Eade to the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet to Russ Gershon's Either/Orchestra.

"When I got to Boston, that's where I felt like I really grew," Wilson said. "The great thing about Either/Orchestra and Charlie's band and the others was that those guys were very much into a lot of different kinds of music and having it all work together. I'm really glad that I grew up and continued to grow in those kinds of situations where everything is fair game."

Eade was impressed by the newcomer right away . "He gets a lot of attention for his fearlessness about experimenting with sound," she said, "but the thing that struck me when I first heard him was a real attention to detail. So even though he's experimenting, he's not forgoing the task of keeping the groove moving forward. I think the combination of those things makes him a really exciting player.

"We never hear enough from drummers as leaders," Eade added, "so to have a drummer like [Wilson] who can write and conceptualize and organize different ensembles is really great." And over the years, she said, "his vision has refined itself. I think that's the mark of a real creative artist. While dealing with the rigors of the tradition, he's retained his playfulness."

Wilson views Tuesday's gig at Scullers as a sort of homecoming, and looks forward to seeing friends old and new there. And for all who come to hear Arts & Crafts, he has three simple words of advice: "Prepare for fun."