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Gerald Wilson Orchestra: Detroit
by Robert J. Robbins
Commissioned by the Detroit International Jazz Festival and premiered on the occasion of the composer's 91st birthday, Gerald Wilson's six-movement “Detroit Suite" demonstrates that after nearly seven decades in the music business, the nonagenarian composer and arranger still has a great deal to offer in terms of musical creativity. Wilson spent the latter part of his teen years in the Motor City, where he studied trumpet, piano, percussion, and composition at Cass Technical High School from 1934-39, and he still ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson Orchestra: Monterey Moods
by Jack Bowers
A decade ago, when he was commissioned to write music to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival, Gerald Wilson produced the memorable, double Grammy Award-nominated Theme for Monterey (MAMA Records,1998). Now the 89-year-old dean of American Jazz composers has scored another triumph, saluting the festival's golden anniversary with a picturesque seven-part suite, Monterey Moods, that musically epitomizes the scope and character of that annual event.
The motif is deceptively simple: a three-note idea used in various ways ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson Orchestra: In My Time
by Marcia Hillman
The Gerald Wilson Orchestra comes out swinging on this CD, recorded in New York with an all-star cast. From the opening “Sax Chase, Wilson and orchestra wend their way through eight Wilson originals and reworkings of two standards, Miles Davis' “So What and Cole Porter's “Love For Sale. The octogenerian leader pays no attention to the numbers in his age. The music he writes, arranges and conducts is fresh and vital. This is big band music at ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson: In His Time
by Rex Butters
At 87, Gerald Wilson casts a long shadow over the history of jazz. His new collection In My Time sizzles with power and joy, as a New York allstar ensemble ignites his dazzling arrangements. His musical associations and friendships catalogue some of the best musicians of the last 60 years: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Lunceford, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles, Oliver Nelson, Zubin Mehta, the list is endless. He is also a ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson Orchestra: In My Time
by Edward Blanco
We are fortunate that jazz has been touched by men like Gerald Wilson. Many legends have passed through this music, leaving us with memories of performances and recordings that will remain long beyond their time. Recorded in our time from a man for all time, In My Time is Wilson's second album for Mack Avenue Records and a followup to the Grammy-nominated New York, New Sound. This session of vibrant and electrifying music will be remembered as one of Wilson's ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson Orchestra: In My Time
by Jim Santella
Gerald Wilson has contributed prolifically to modern jazz while serving as an educator for generations of practicing musicians. Coming through his bands is like going to college with one eye on the books and one eye on learning things the right way. He's turned out some mighty fine jazz artists in his time, and he's influenced numerous others.
Wilson started out in 1939, performing and arranging for some of the greatest big bands of the era. He started ...
Continue ReadingGerald Wilson: The Artist Selects
by Jerry D'Souza
Blue Note recently launched a series of recordings on which the artist selects the music--called, appropriately enough, “The Artist Selects." Gerald Wilson, who made several strong records for Pacific Jazz in the sixties, gets his due on this compilation. Wilson brings some sentiment into his selections. There is a tune that he wrote for his wife, three that were inspired by his daughters, and four that were the consequence of meeting bullfighters he admired.
Wilson composes uses different ...
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