SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2018
VOLUME SIX NUMBER ONE
SONNY ROLLINS
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
TEDDY WILSON
(July 14-20)
PHAROAH SANDERS
(July 21-27)
BILLY STRAYHORN
(July 28-August 3)
LEROY JENKINS
(August 4-10)
LAURYN HILL
(August 11-17)
JOHN HICKS
(August 18-24)
ANTHONY DAVIS
(August 25-31)
RON MILES
(September 1-7)
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
(September 8-14)
NNENNA FREELON
(September 15-21)
KENNY DORHAM
(September 22-28)
FATS WALLER
(September 29-October 5)
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/teddy-wilson-mn0000017990/biography
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/teddywilsonhttps://www.allmusic.com/artist/teddy-wilson-mn0000017990/biography
Teddy Wilson
(1912-1986)
Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
Teddy Wilson
was the definitive swing pianist, a solid and impeccable soloist whose
smooth and steady style was more accessible to the general public than Earl Hines or Art Tatum. He picked up early experience playing with Speed Webb in 1929 and appearing on some Louis Armstrong recordings in 1933. Discovered by John Hammond, Willie joined Benny Carter's band and recorded with the Chocolate Dandies
later that year. In 1935, he began leading a series of classic
small-group recordings with swing all-stars which on many occasions
featured Billie Holiday. That was also the year that an informal jam session with Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa resulted in the formation of the Benny Goodman Trio (Lionel Hampton
made the group a quartet the following year). Although he was a special
added attraction rather than a regular member of the orchestra, Wilson's public appearances with Goodman broke important ground in the long struggle against segregation.
Between his own dates, many recordings with Benny Goodman's small groups and a series of piano solos, Teddy Wilson recorded a large number of gems during the second half of the 1930s. He left B.G. in 1939 to form his own big band but, despite some fine records, it folded in 1940. Wilson led a sextet at Cafe Society during 1940-1944, taught music at Juilliard during the summers of 1945-1952, appeared on radio shows, and recorded regularly with a trio, as a soloist and with pick-up groups in addition to having occasional reunions with Goodman. Teddy Wilson's style never changed, and he played very similar in 1985 to how he sounded in 1935; no matter, the enthusiasm and solid sense of swing were present up until the end.
Between his own dates, many recordings with Benny Goodman's small groups and a series of piano solos, Teddy Wilson recorded a large number of gems during the second half of the 1930s. He left B.G. in 1939 to form his own big band but, despite some fine records, it folded in 1940. Wilson led a sextet at Cafe Society during 1940-1944, taught music at Juilliard during the summers of 1945-1952, appeared on radio shows, and recorded regularly with a trio, as a soloist and with pick-up groups in addition to having occasional reunions with Goodman. Teddy Wilson's style never changed, and he played very similar in 1985 to how he sounded in 1935; no matter, the enthusiasm and solid sense of swing were present up until the end.
Teddy Wilson
His airy, effortless style, with its emphasis on lightly accompanied
right-hand melody, was a key element in the transition from swing to
bebop, and many modern jazz pianists took Wilson's approach as their
starting point. His early recordings were percussive and forceful, but
as he matured his technique became graceful, almost elegant. He was a
gifted artist who used the full range of his instrument to his
advantage. His recordings with Billie Holiday and Benny Goodman’s trio
and quartet during the 1930s are considered classics.
Wilson was
born in Austin, TX in 1912, his parents were both schoolteachers. They
left Texas in 1918 for positions at the prestigious Tuskegee College in
Talladega, AL, one of the pioneer black universities. Wilson studied
music at both the Tuskegee Institute and Alabama's Talladega College.
Moving
on to Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, he started by joining up with Speed
Webb and Milton Senior before heading to Chicago, where he played with
the likes of Erskine Tate, Eddie Mallory, Clarence Moore, Jimmy Noone
and Louis Armstrong. He traveled to New York in 1933 to join Benny
Carter's orchestra, the Chocolate Dandies. After Carter disbanded the
following year to take a position as arranger with Goodman's band Wilson
worked with an all-star group led by Red Norvo in 1934 and with Willie
Bryant's band during 1934 and 1935. He met Goodman in 1935 and in 1936
was asked to join the bandleader's trio, which also included drummer
Gene Krupa. Lionel Hampton joined soon after, making it a quartet.
Wilson became the first African-American publicly featured in Goodman's
line-up.
During his time with Goodman, Wilson put together several
small groups for recording sessions, and began a long career as a
freelance recording artist that culminated in his marvelous series of
discs with Billie Holiday. Other sessions featured such artists as
Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Ward, and
Harry James. Wilson left Goodman in 1939 to form his own big band,
which included such top musicians as Doc Cheatham, Ben Webster, Rudy
Powell, and Hal Baker. Thelma Carpenter was vocalist. Wilson's subtle
style failed to win over audiences, however, who often complained that
his orchestra sounded ''too white.'' He disbanded the group after only a
year and formed a sextet that played regularly at the Cafe Society in
New York from 1940 to 1946.
After 1946 Wilson worked mostly as a
soloist or in a trio. In 1946 he became a staff musician for CBS radio
and operated his own music school, and produced a series of recordings,
the “Teddy Wilson School for Pianists,” (reissued on Mosaic) to
demonstrate various elements of jazz piano.
He taught at Julliard
through the early 1950s, becoming one of the first jazz musicians to do
so, and stayed on the staff for seven years. His recording partnerships
of the 1950s included significant albums with Lester Young and Benny
Carter (both for Verve) in which Wilson's economical style was a perfect
setting for each saxophonist. He made a series of recordings for
Columbia in the mid-50s, and by the ‘60s had expanded his scope to world
wide appearances.
He was part of the mother of all jazz tours, Benny
Goodman’s 1962 State Department tour of Russia. He performed with
international musicians, developing a close relationship with the Dutch
Swing College Band, with whom he made four tours. Wilsons discography
for the 1970s includes recording sessions in Copenhagen, Tokyo, Munich,
Nice, and London. He was truly an international jazz star. He continued
to work right up to the end, making appearances with Goodman, Hampton,
Krupa, Benny Carter, Red Norvo and other all-star survivors of the Swing
Era, and he also worked extensively with a trio including his
sons-Theodore on bass and Steven on drums.
Teddy Wilson passed away in 1986.
Teddy
Wilson maintained a phenomenally consistent standard until the end of
his life, because of his influence and longevity; he is regarded by many
critics as a significant pianist of the swing era. His extensive
catalog of recordings as a sideman and leader, and his distinguished
reputation amongst jazz aficionados and musicians alike, are his
enduring testament.
Source: James Nadal
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-02/entertainment/ca-843_1_teddy-wilson
The passing of Teddy Wilson is a death in the family--our jazz family, in which the losses lately have accelerated at a terrifying pace.
So much is known about Wilson's life and times that one tends to neglect lesser aspects that were important, to him if not to the public.
The best remembered years, of course, were the four he spent with Benny Goodman, but there were significant developments before and after that widely publicized era.
It was not Benny Goodman, but Benny Carter who brought Wilson to New York. "I first heard Teddy," Carter recalled Thursday, "when I was touring with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. We had a night off and I went to Woonsocket, R.I., to hear Speed Webb's band. Webb had this remarkable 18-year-old pianist, Teddy Wilson, and I kept him in mind. Two years later, in 1933, with some encouragement from John Hammond, I drove to Chicago with a friend and we brought Teddy to New York."
Wilson played on three sessions with Carter: a small band date that attracted serious attention to him as a new, original sound in jazz piano and two others with Carter's full orchestra. After the Carter band broke up, both he and Wilson worked in an orchestra led by Willie Bryant, a comedian and emcee; but this was only an interim job for both of them.
"Around this time I began writing arrangements for Benny Goodman," Carter said. "Oddly enough, I remember recommending Teddy to Benny--not as a pianist, which would have seemed impossible at the time, but as an arranger."
Wilson never did write any arrangements for Goodman, but after the two men jammed together one night in 1935 at Red Norvo's home, the empathy between them led to a record date and a concert appearance organized by the young Chicago critic Helen Oakley. Less than three months later Goodman, Wilson and Gene Krupa began the regular public appearances that helped break down segregation in jazz.
When Wilson decided in 1939 to branch out on his own, he organized one of the most unjustly forgotten orchestras of the swing era. Because its records are too few and too short to give an adequate idea of its accomplishments, I feel lucky to have heard the band in person on several occasions at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem.
What incredible sounds those 14 men produced! Teddy Wilson was doing much of the arranging, either alone or in collaboration with Buster Harding, who played second piano in the band. Among the soloists were Ben Webster on tenor sax and Harold Baker on trumpet, both of whom would later earn fame with Duke Ellington.
Teddy wrote a beguiling theme song for his broadcasts, "Little Things That Mean So Much." He played songs written by his first wife, Irene Kitchings, most memorably "Some Other Spring," which Billie Holiday immortalized.
Nothing was at fault in the Wilson orchestra except the leader's personality. He simply could not be a Lionel Hampton extrovert. After barely a year he had to call it quits, and hardly anyone realized how much of a heartbreak that was for him.
True, there were some good times ahead: leading a sextet at Cafe Society for four years, the various trios that followed and the three years on staff at WNEW radio station in New York, followed by many successful European tours. But he offered a virtual imitation of his earlier self, with less improvisation and many familiar, easy-to-recall riffs. He seemed to have lost the incentive to expand on the style he had created, or to explore new avenues.
Wilson's relationship with Goodman (unlike Hampton's, which remains friendly to the end) was less than cordial. Wilson rejoined Goodman only occasionally, touring the Soviet Union with him in 1962, but Wilson did so only when the terms met his rigid demands, and then with reluctance.
To recall Wilson in his prime, one has to go back to the original Goodman sessions, or, better yet, to the unique record dates he led from 1935 to '39 for Columbia's Brunswick label.
Wilson would handpick from six to nine sidemen from whatever great bands were in town. At one time or another Cootie Williams, Harry James, Buck Clayton, Jonah Jones, Bobby Hackett or Roy Eldridge might be on hand, along with Benny Goodman or Pee Wee Russell, Johnny Hodges or Benny Carter, Gene Krupa or Jo Jones, Lester Young or Vido Musso, and, on most of the sessions, Billie Holiday.
Those were the definitive small band records of the swing years and the ultimate proof that swing music was not strictly a big-band idiom.
Wilson later made hundreds of recordings, but none could quite reach the same level of achievement. If he had done nothing more in his singular career than produce that series of performances, then his name still would surely be etched in the history books.
https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/teddy-wilson
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-02/entertainment/ca-843_1_teddy-wilson
The Other Sounds Of Teddy Wilson
The passing of Teddy Wilson is a death in the family--our jazz family, in which the losses lately have accelerated at a terrifying pace.
So much is known about Wilson's life and times that one tends to neglect lesser aspects that were important, to him if not to the public.
The best remembered years, of course, were the four he spent with Benny Goodman, but there were significant developments before and after that widely publicized era.
It was not Benny Goodman, but Benny Carter who brought Wilson to New York. "I first heard Teddy," Carter recalled Thursday, "when I was touring with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. We had a night off and I went to Woonsocket, R.I., to hear Speed Webb's band. Webb had this remarkable 18-year-old pianist, Teddy Wilson, and I kept him in mind. Two years later, in 1933, with some encouragement from John Hammond, I drove to Chicago with a friend and we brought Teddy to New York."
Wilson played on three sessions with Carter: a small band date that attracted serious attention to him as a new, original sound in jazz piano and two others with Carter's full orchestra. After the Carter band broke up, both he and Wilson worked in an orchestra led by Willie Bryant, a comedian and emcee; but this was only an interim job for both of them.
"Around this time I began writing arrangements for Benny Goodman," Carter said. "Oddly enough, I remember recommending Teddy to Benny--not as a pianist, which would have seemed impossible at the time, but as an arranger."
Wilson never did write any arrangements for Goodman, but after the two men jammed together one night in 1935 at Red Norvo's home, the empathy between them led to a record date and a concert appearance organized by the young Chicago critic Helen Oakley. Less than three months later Goodman, Wilson and Gene Krupa began the regular public appearances that helped break down segregation in jazz.
When Wilson decided in 1939 to branch out on his own, he organized one of the most unjustly forgotten orchestras of the swing era. Because its records are too few and too short to give an adequate idea of its accomplishments, I feel lucky to have heard the band in person on several occasions at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem.
What incredible sounds those 14 men produced! Teddy Wilson was doing much of the arranging, either alone or in collaboration with Buster Harding, who played second piano in the band. Among the soloists were Ben Webster on tenor sax and Harold Baker on trumpet, both of whom would later earn fame with Duke Ellington.
Teddy wrote a beguiling theme song for his broadcasts, "Little Things That Mean So Much." He played songs written by his first wife, Irene Kitchings, most memorably "Some Other Spring," which Billie Holiday immortalized.
Nothing was at fault in the Wilson orchestra except the leader's personality. He simply could not be a Lionel Hampton extrovert. After barely a year he had to call it quits, and hardly anyone realized how much of a heartbreak that was for him.
True, there were some good times ahead: leading a sextet at Cafe Society for four years, the various trios that followed and the three years on staff at WNEW radio station in New York, followed by many successful European tours. But he offered a virtual imitation of his earlier self, with less improvisation and many familiar, easy-to-recall riffs. He seemed to have lost the incentive to expand on the style he had created, or to explore new avenues.
Wilson's relationship with Goodman (unlike Hampton's, which remains friendly to the end) was less than cordial. Wilson rejoined Goodman only occasionally, touring the Soviet Union with him in 1962, but Wilson did so only when the terms met his rigid demands, and then with reluctance.
To recall Wilson in his prime, one has to go back to the original Goodman sessions, or, better yet, to the unique record dates he led from 1935 to '39 for Columbia's Brunswick label.
Wilson would handpick from six to nine sidemen from whatever great bands were in town. At one time or another Cootie Williams, Harry James, Buck Clayton, Jonah Jones, Bobby Hackett or Roy Eldridge might be on hand, along with Benny Goodman or Pee Wee Russell, Johnny Hodges or Benny Carter, Gene Krupa or Jo Jones, Lester Young or Vido Musso, and, on most of the sessions, Billie Holiday.
Those were the definitive small band records of the swing years and the ultimate proof that swing music was not strictly a big-band idiom.
Wilson later made hundreds of recordings, but none could quite reach the same level of achievement. If he had done nothing more in his singular career than produce that series of performances, then his name still would surely be etched in the history books.
https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz/teddy-wilson
NEA Jazz Masters
