blogtalk GVJ & Gerald Wilson

Two 1999 Grammy® Award Nominations
(Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance)
(Best Original Composition: "Romance")

For more than fifty years, Gerald Wilson has been recognized as one of the premiere composers, arrangers and band leaders in modern jazz. Now in his 79th year, the elegant and gracious master continues not only to create brilliant, sophisticated music, but to reap ever greater honors for his timeless contributions to American culture.

The perennially humble Wilson has garnered his share of accolades, including five Grammy nominations, top Big Band and Composer/Arranger honors in the Downbeat International Critics Poll, the Paul Robeson Award, the NEA American Jazz Masters Fellowship, and two 1997 American Jazz Awards for Best Arranger and Best Big Band. In 1996, Wilson received the rare honor of having his life's work archived by the Library of Congress.

As a composer and arranger, Wilson continues to produce prolifically. His latest CD from MAMA Records, the double Grammy-nominated Theme for Monterey (1999 Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance; Best Original Composition: "Romance"), chronicles three recent works. The album's namesake is a large-scale piece commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival last year, celebrating the Festival's 40th anniversary. This set of five variations on a mesmerizing 40-bar theme, clocks in at nearly 45 minutes and is a testament to the composer's sophistication and mastery. Wilson, who has enjoyed a special relationship with the world-renowned annual jazz event, also wrote and performed featured commissions for its 20th and 25th anniversary, as well as making several other appearances there during its 40-year history. The other pieces, his rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" and Parker/Gillespie's "Anthropology" (based on Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" changes), both commissioned by the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Foundation, were premiered at the Library of Congress in 1996. "In my recent works," stresses Wilson, "I've stayed away from some of the symphonic devices I've used elsewhere. I want this music to swing in any tempo, even the ballads. After all, this is jazz, and everything must swing!"

Although not a household name, Wilson's talent is legendary among jazz insiders. His groundbreaking compositions, intricate arrangements and immediately recognizable sound put him in a league of his own. In his prolific six-decade career as composer and arranger, Wilson has been behind some of the greatest names in jazz, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Nancy Wilson, and Bobby Darin. Beyond his jazz accomplishments, Wilson's symphonic compositions have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He even scored a top 40 pop hit with El Chicano's 1970 version of his "Viva Tirado," a song that has been recorded in at least 18 different versions, including a hip hop rendition by Latino rapper Kid Frost.

Wilson began his life in jazz in 1937, when he joined the musician's union and started playing professionally. Two years later, at the age of 21, he was invited to join the highly popular Jimmie Lunceford band in New York City. His impact was immediate, contributing such powerful material as "Hi Spook" and "Yard Dog Mazurka" to the Lunceford repertoire. After four years with Lunceford and a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Wilson settled in Los Angeles, playing trumpet and writing for Benny Carter and Les Hite. In 1944 he organized the first Gerald Wilson Jazz Orchestra, featuring trombonist Melba Liston and trumpeter Snooky Young among its members. Twice touring the country, Wilson's big band made its mark in New York City, receiving rave reviews playing the Apollo Theater between bookings of the Ellington and Lunceford bands, and in Chicago, landing a ten-week engagement at the Regal Theater and hiring a young Joe Williams as the band's vocalist there.

Just as his orchestra was reaching a peak of p