Gerald Wilson
Gerald Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Wilson in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gerald Stanley Wilson |
| Born | (1918-09-04)September 4, 1918 Shelby, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | September 8, 2014(2014-09-08) (aged 96) Los Angeles |
| Genres | Jazz, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, bandleader |
| Instruments | Trumpet |
| Years active | 1938–2014 |
| Labels | Capitol, Pacific Jazz, Discovery |
| Associated acts | Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Lunceford |
Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014[1]) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s.[2] In addition to being a band leader, Wilson wrote arrangements for Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Julie London, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson.[1]
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Death
4 Awards and honors
5 Discography
5.1 As leader
5.2 As arranger/sideman
6 References
7 External links
Early life
Wilson was born in Shelby, Mississippi,[1] and at the age of 16 moved to Detroit, where he graduated from Cass Technical High School (one of his classmates was saxophonist Wardell Gray).[3] He joined the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra in 1939, replacing its trumpeter and arranger, Sy Oliver. While with Lunceford, Wilson contributed numbers to the band's book, including "Hi Spook" and "Yard-dog Mazurka", the first influenced by Ellington's recording of "Caravan" and the latter an influence on Stan Kenton's "Intermission Riff".[4]
During World War II, Wilson also performed for a brief time with the U.S. Navy, with musicians including Clark Terry, Willie Smith and Jimmy Nottingham, among others. Around 2005, many of the members of the band reunited as "The Great Lakes Experience Big Band," with Wilson conducting and Ernie Andrews making a guest appearance at the invitation of Clark Terry. Wilson also played and arranged for the bands of Benny Carter, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.
Career
Avertisement for Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra, 1945
Wilson formed his own band, with some success in the mid-1940s. In 1960, he formed a Los Angeles-based band that began a series of critically acclaimed recordings for the Pacific Jazz label. His 1968 album California Soul featured a title track written by Ashford & Simpson, as well as a version of The Doors' hit "Light My Fire".[4] Musicians in the band at various times included lead trumpeter Snooky Young, trumpet soloist Carmell Jones and saxophonists Bud Shank, Joe Maini, Harold Land, Teddy Edwards, and Don Raffell. The rhythm section included guitarist Joe Pass, Richard Holmes (organist), vibists Roy Ayers and Bobby Hutcherson, and drummers Mel Lewis and Mel Lee.
Wilson's wife of more than 50 years, Josefina Villasenor Wilson, is Mexican-American, and a number of his compositions showed his love of Spanish/Mexican themes, especially "Viva Tirado", which later became a hit for the rock band El Chicano. Along with his wife, Wilson had three daughters (Jeri, Lillian (Teri) and Nancy Jo), his son Anthony (who is guitarist for Diana Krall), and a number of grandchildren, all of whom have songs composed for them - his compositions were often inspired by his family members.[1]
Wilson continued leading bands and recording in later decades for the Discovery and MAMA labels. Recent musicians included Luis Bonilla, Rick Baptist, Randall Willis, Wilson's son-in-law Shuggie Otis and son Anthony Wilson (both guitarists); his grandson Eric Otis also played on such recordings. Wilson continued to record Spanish-flavored compositions, notably the bravura trumpet solos "Carlos" (named for Mexican matador Carlos Arruza, and recorded three times over the years, featuring trumpeters Jimmy Owens, Oscar Brashear, and Ron Barrows) and "Lomelin" (also named for a matador—Antonio Lomelin—and recorded twice, with solos by Oscar Brashear and Jon Faddis).
Gerald Wilson at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, California, January 24, 1988
The National Endowment for the Arts named Wilson an NEA Jazz Master in 1990. In 1998 Wilson received a commission from the Monterey Jazz Festival for an original composition, resulting in "Theme for Monterey", which was performed at that year's festival. In later years, he formed orchestras on the West and East coasts, each with local outstanding musicians. He also made special appearances as guest conductor, including with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band (now the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York), the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and European radio jazz orchestras, conducting the BBC Big Band in 2005.[3] He hosted an innovative show, in the 1970s, on KBCA in Los Angeles, which was co-hosted by Dennis Smith, where he played " . . . music of the past, the present, and the future."
Wilson was a member of the faculty at California State University, Los Angeles and the University of California, Los Angeles, for many years recently winning a "teacher of the year" award. In the 1970s he also served on the faculty at California State University, Northridge, where he taught Jazz History to wide acclaim among the student body,[3] and has also taught at Cal Arts in Los Angeles.
In February 2006, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra performed his music with Gerald Wilson conducting. He had a unique style of conducting: "Garbed in well tailored suits, his long white hair flowing, Wilson shaped the music with dynamic movements and the elegant grace of a modern dancer." Asked about his style of conducting by Terry Gross on the NPR show Fresh Air in 2006, he replied, 'It's different from any style you've ever seen before. I move. I choreograph the music as I conduct. You see, I point it out, everything you're to listen to.'"[1]
In June 2007, Wilson returned to the studio with producer Al Pryor and an all-star big band to record a special album of compositions commissioned and premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival for the festival's 50th anniversary. Wilson had helped lead celebrations of the festival's 20th and 40th anniversary with his specially commissioned works (1998's Grammy-nominated album Theme for Monterey). The album Monterey Moods was released on Mack Avenue Records in September 2007. In September 2009, Wilson conducted his eight-movement suite "Detroit", commissioned by the Detroit Jazz Festival to mark its 30th anniversary. The work includes a movement entitled "Cass Tech" in honor of his high school alma mater. In 2011, his last recording was the Grammy nominated "Legacy"
Death
Wilson died at his home in Los Angeles, California, on September 8, 2014,[2] after a brief illness that followed a bout of pneumonia, which had hospitalized him. He was 96 years old.
Awards and honors
- 1990 NEA Jazz Masters Award
- 1996 Library of Congress Gerald Wilson archive of his life's work
- 1997 American Jazz Award: Best Arranger and Best Big Band
- 2008 Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legends Award
- 2012 Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Los Angeles Jazz Society L.A. Jazz Treasure Award
Grammy nominations
[5]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
1963 | "Tell Me the Truth" (track for Nancy Wilson) | Best Background arrangement (behind vocalists or instrumentalist) | Nominated |
1964 | "Paco" (track) | Best Original Jazz Composition | Nominated |
1995 | State Street Suite (album) | Best Large Ensemble Jazz Performance | Nominated |
1998 | Theme For Monterey (album) | Best Large Ensemble Jazz Performance | Nominated |
1998 | "Romance" (track) | Best Instrumental Composition | Nominated |
2003 | New York, New Sound (album) | Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album | Nominated |
2011 | Legacy (album) | Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album | Nominated |
Grammy Award nominated and winning singles or albums contributed to
| Year | Grammy category | Album or Single | Primary artist | Label | Role/Content composed or arranged | Honor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 (more than 5 minutes duration) | Anatomy of a Murder (Soundtrack album) | Duke Ellington | Columbia | trumpet/instrumentalist on all tracks | Won |
Best Sound Track Album | Won | |||||
Best Performance by a Dance Band | Won | |||||
| 1963 | Album of the Year | Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (album) | Ray Charles | ABC-Paramount | arranger - Bye Bye Love/Just A Little Lovin'/Careless Love/Hey, Good Lookin' | Nominated |
| 1999 | Grammy Hall of Fame | Won |
Discography
As leader
Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra 1945–1946 (Classics #976) - CD, note: recordings made for the Excelsior, and Black & White labels.
Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra 1946–1954 (Classics #1444) - CD, note: recordings made for the Black & White, U-A-R, Excelsior, and Federal labels.
Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra On Jubilee 1946–1947 (Sounds of Yesteryear #966) - CD
Big Band Modern (The Jazz Factory #22880) - CD, note: reissue of Progressive Sounds (Federal #295-93 [10" LP]) from 1954; later reissued as Big Band Modern (Audio Lab #AL-1538 [12" LP]) in 1959; now reissued on CD with bonus live material recorded 1950.
You Better Believe It! (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
Moment of Truth (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
Portraits (Pacific Jazz, 1964)
On Stage (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
McCann/Wilson - Les McCann and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Feelin' Kinda Blues (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
The Golden Sword: Torero Impressions in Jazz (Pacific Jazz, 1966)
Live and Swinging: The Gerald Wilson Orchestra Plays Standards and Blues (Pacific Jazz, 1967)
Everywhere (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
California Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1968)
Eternal Equinox (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
Lomelin (Discovery, 1981)
Jessica (Trend, 1982)
Calafia (Trend, 1984)
Jenna (Discovery, 1989)
State Street Sweet (MAMA Foundation/Summit, 1994)
Suite Memories: Reflections on a Jazz Journey...A Spoken-Word Double Album & Scrapbook (MAMA/Summit, 1996)
Theme for Monterey (MAMA/Summit, 1997)
New York, New Sound (Mack Avenue, 2003)
In My Time (Mack Avenue, 2005)
Monterey Moods (Mack Avenue, 2007)
Detroit (Mack Avenue, 2009)
Legacy (Mack Avenue, 2011)
As arranger/sideman
With David Axelrod
Songs of Experience (Capitol, 1969) - arranger
With Kenny Burrell
75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2006) - arranger and conductor
With Red Callender
The Lowest (MetroJazz, 1958) - trumpet
With Ray Charles
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music (ABC-Parmamount, 1962) - arranger
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two (ABC-Parmamount, 1962) - arranger
Have a Smile with Me (ABC, 1964) - arranger
With Buddy Collette
Man of Many Parts (Contemporary, 1956) - trumpet
With Curtis Counce
Carl's Blues (Contemporary, 1958 [rel. 1960]) - trumpet
Sonority (Contemporary, 1958 [rel. 1989]) - trumpet
With Bobby Darin
You're the Reason I'm Living (Capitol, 1963) - arranger
With Duke Ellington
Dance to the Duke! (Capitol, 1954) - trumpet
Anatomy of a Murder (Columbia, 1959) - trumpet
Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G. (Columbia, 1960) - trumpet
With Ella Fitzgerald
Things Ain't What They Used to Be (And You Better Believe It) (Reprise, 1970) - arranger
With Johnny Hartman
Unforgettable Songs (ABC-Paramount, 1966) - arranger and conductor
With Al Hirt
Live at Carnegie Hall (RCA Victor, 1965) - arranger
With Richard "Groove" Holmes
Workin' on a Groovy Thing (World Pacific, 1968) - arranger and conductor
With Carmell Jones
Brass Bag (with Laurence "Tricky" Lofton) (Pacific Jazz, 1962) - arranger and conductor
Business Meetin' (Pacific Jazz, 1962) - arranger and conductor
With Julie London
Feeling Good (Liberty, 1965) - arranger and conductor
With Les McCann
Les McCann Sings (Pacific Jazz, 1961) - arranger and conductor
With Jean-Luc Ponty
Electric Connection (World Pacific, 1969) - arranger and conductor
With Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Sings Soulfully (Roulette, 1963) - arranger
With Leroy Vinnegar
Leroy Walks! (Contemporary, 1958) - trumpet
With Nancy Wilson
Broadway – My Way (Capitol, 1963) - arranger and conductor
Yesterday's Love Songs/Today's Blues (Capitol, 1963) - arranger and conductor
With Jimmy Witherspoon
Singin' The Blues (World Pacific, 1959) - trumpet
References
^ abcde Don Heckman, "Gerald Wilson dies at 96; multifaceted jazz musician", Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2014.
^ ab Richard S. Ginell (2011). "Gerald Wilson Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 16 July 2011..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ abc Peter Vacher, "Gerald Wilson obituary", The Guardian, 15 September 2014.
^ ab William Yardley, "Gerald Wilson, Versatile Jazz Arranger, Is Dead at 96", The New York Times, September 9, 2014.
^ National Academy of Recordings Arts and Sciences reference page for Gerald Wilson - Grammys and nominations Archived April 30, 2018, at grammy.com [Error: unknown archive URL]
- Jürgen Wölfer, Gerald Wilson Discography, Almere (NL) 2012
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerald Wilson. |
Gerald Wilson discography at Discogs
Interview with Gerald Wilson NAMM Oral History Library (2004)
Interview of Gerald S. Wilson, Center for Oral History Research, UCLA
The Legacy of Gerald Wilson - Panel Discussion on Detroit JazzStage - Jazz Extras
Interview by Jason Crane (Part 1) from The Jazz Session Podcast Series
- Don Heckman, "Gerald Wilson dies at 96; multifaceted jazz musician", Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2014.
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