Gerald Wilson: Legacy

Mack Avenue Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Legacy

Legacy is a perfect title for and album that honors and celebrates the life of living legend Gerald Wilson. The man was born in Mississippi in 1918 — that’s not a misprint — and still composes and orchestrates marvelous jazz.

Wilson earned a degree from Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, then joined Jimmie Lunsford’s band (replacing the great Sy Oliver) as a trumpeter, composer and arranger; Wilson was 21 at the time. He subsequently played and arranged with Benny Carter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie. During World War II, Wilson was a member of the famous U.S. Navy Band, stationed at the Great Lakes facility. He formed his first name band in the mid-1940s; in 1960, he headed a Los Angeles band that produced a number of hit albums under the Pacific Jazz label.

Wilson never has "retired," although he has restricted his efforts to composition and orchestration for some decades.

The Legacy orchestra truly is a big band: four trumpets, four trombones, six reeds and four in the rhythm section. More important to Wilson, it’s also a family affair: His son Anthony Wilson is the guitarist, and he and Gerald’s grandson Eric Otis each contributed a composition and orchestration for this session ("Virgo" and "September Sky," respectively).

The first five tracks are from the entire Wilson clan; the final seven, done by Gerald, are movements from his Yes, Chicago Is… suite, which was commissioned by the Chicago Jazz Festival. These relatively short melodies — between one and four minutes — relate to locations and "conditions" ("Blowin’ In the Windy City") associated with that “great jazz Mecca,” as Wilson describes it.

This delicious album is a perfect indicator of the timelessness of both jazz and Wilson. Nothing sounds dated; the music and performances are pure and swinging. If you aren't already a huge fan of the ageless Gerald Wilson, you soon will be.

The Gerald Wilson Orchestra: Detroit

Mack Avenue Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.4.10
Buy CD: Detroit

I sometimes worry that if it weren't for the elderly icons in the jazz world, I'd have no exceptional albums to review.

Gerald Wilson is such an artist: a 91-year-old trumpeter, pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader who has been with us almost since the beginning of jazz. He got his start with the Jimmie Lunceford Band and spent time with Benny Carter, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie and, no matter the style, fit in with all of them.

Wilson has written or arranged music for every major artist you can name, and still performs that service today. This album was commissioned by the Detroit International Jazz Festival, to commemorate its 30th anniversary. One of the album's highlights, a multi-part suite, was recorded by members of two of Wilson's big-band orchestras; he heads one in Los Angeles and another in New York City.

He spent five years during the 1930s in Detroit, and considers them among the best of his life; in his words, “I had only known segregation before then.”

In recognition of his fame, his bands consist of the country's top musicians. One of his guitarists is his son, Anthony, who has worked extensively with Diana Krall.

No matter the location of Gerald's orchestras, they both swing fantastically. Each of the suite's movements is named for areas or memories associated with Detroit. The melodic themes are moving, as are the solos by this great crew of musicians. You'll hear a couple of flag-wavers (“Blues On Belle Isle” and “The Detroit River”) and a lovely ballad (“Detroit”); the rest are smooth, mid-tempo, straight-ahead numbers that'll make you want to move.

It's not too strong a description: Gerald Wilson is a jazz genius and a living legend.