Jazz Icon Gerald Wilson Pays Homage To Chicago With The Release of “Legacy” on June 21st, 2011
– ALBUM AVAILABLE JUNE 21 –
JAZZ ICON CARRIES ON HIS JAZZ LEGACY THROUGH TWO GENERATIONS OF FAMILY MEMBERS
NEWLY COMMISSIONED SUITE, “YES CHICAGO IS…” PAYS
TRIBUTE TO ONE OF WILSON’S FAVORITE CITIES
CLICK HERE TO STREAM EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM LEGACY
Gerald Wilson, jazz’s reigning composer/orchestrator pays homage to his adopted hometown, Chicago on his fifth Mack Avenue Records release, Legacy.
Composers Igor Stravinsky and Giacomo Puccini also receive Wilson’s
musical tips of the hat. Wilson’s son, guitarist/composer Anthony
Wilson, and grandson Eric Otis are also represented by a
composition/orchestration apiece, thus extending Gerald’s musical
legacy.
The Gerald Wilson Orchestra assembled for Legacy comprises many of the great jazz artists who’ve been Gerald’s collaborators for the lion’s share of his Mack Avenue canon.
A first-class rhythm section of pianist Renee Rosnes, guitarist Anthony
Wilson, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash anchors the
group. Trumpeters Sean Jones, Jeremy Pelt, Tony Lujan, Freddy Hendrix,
Frank Greene and Mike Rodriguez and trombonists Dennis Wilson, Douglas
Purviance, Luis Bonilla and Alan Ferber stud the brass section. Antonio
Hart, Dick Oatts, Kamasi Washington, Ron Blake, Jay Brandford and Gary
Smulyan comprise the reeds. Al Pryor continues as Wilson’s producer for
this collection of tributes and portraits.
His
new suite “Yes, Chicago Is…” is an affectionate series of
sketches-what Wilson calls a “romantic ballad” that delineates one of
his favorite cities. (He wrote and recorded “State Street Suite,”
an earlier civic valentine, in 1993.) Commissioned by the Chicago Jazz
Festival, it recalls some key personal junctures. Wilson lived in the
Windy City for a better part of a year at the age of fifteen, when the
Chicago World’s Fair was there. Later on, as a member of the Jimmie
Lunceford Orchestra (which he joined in June of 1938), he used
the town as his home base. And while stationed at the Great Lakes Naval
facility (1942-’44), Wilson took advantage of the fact that he didn’t
have to live on the base and moved into town.
The
suite begins appropriately with “A Jazz Mecca.” “I always loved
Chicago,” the 92 year-old Wilson says. “It’s such an exciting city, and
it’s one of the great jazz cities-a real ‘jazz mecca.’ I tried to
capture some of the flavor of the Chicago I’ve known: the wonderful
Regal Theatre, the great sports teams and the El Grotto nightclub, where
I played six weeks with my band in 1946.”
Wilson’s fans won’t be surprised that he’s an admirer of 20th
Century musical giant Igor Stravinsky. One of his mentors, the late
Phil Moore, brought the Russian composer to Wilson’s attention. Italian
opera great, Giacomo Puccini, however, might raise a few eyebrows.
“They’re both dedicated to Wynton Marsalis,” he relates. “He’s been so
good to me, playing my music at Lincoln Center. I took a small excerpt
(just a couple of bars) from ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Puccini’s opera, Turandot-and
wrote the ‘Variations on a Theme by Giacomo Puccini.’ I did the same
with Stravinsky. I write short pieces these days so I don’t need much
material for inspiration.”
“Variations
on Clair De Lune” fulfills a childhood desire: Wilson’s first musical
studies were on piano; he always liked the piece and wanted a chance to
do something with it. The twist is that Wilson had pianist Avery
Parrish, composer and player of the bluesy “After Hours,” in mind.
“Avery was a brilliant pianist,” he reminds us. “He could play as much
piano as Art Tatum or Earl Hines.”
Wilson clearly revels in his working relationship with Mack Avenue Records. His previous releases for the label are: New York, New Sound (2003), In My Time (2005), Monterey Moods (2007) and Detroit
(2009). “They’re so nice to me and our arrangement is so comfortable,”
he says. His albums receive maximum exposure-in the press, on radio and
on Internet sites like YouTube. “I love working with Al Pryor and
Gretchen Valade has given me carte blanche to do what I want.”
Legacy
lives up to its name in offering a forum for the composing and
orchestration talents of Wilson’s progeny: his son, guitarist Anthony
Wilson, and his grandson, Eric Otis. “Anthony has been writing for quite
a while now,” Gerald points out. “He’s well aware of how I work but
he’s got his own point of view. That number of his, ‘Virgo,’ was
commissioned by the Hollywood Bowl for a concert that my band was on,
sharing the bill with pianist Hank Jones in 2008. He’s taken that piece
and added more material to it for this album.”
Eric Otis– grandson
of Wilson and R&B pioneer Johnny Otis, and son of guitarist and
musical auteur Shuggie Otis-is also a guitarist. (“So many young people
play and write their music on the guitar these days,” Gerald muses.)
Eric has been Wilson’s transcriber for quite some time and, as such,
he’s had a unique insight into his grandfather’s musical methodology.
“It’s been an educational process,” Otis offers, “and a very practical
education. I’ve watched how he works, how he sketches out his
compositions, and how he voices his chords; that’s something I couldn’t
have gotten from a classroom. I’m at the point where I can now use all
the things that I’ve learned.”
“September
Sky,” Otis’s first orchestration, was midwifed by his grandfather. “I
began writing it on the guitar in 1999 and for some reason I put it
away. Last year I pulled it out of the drawer and I completed it; I
finished it to my satisfaction and then orchestrated it. It’s an
accumulation of everything he’s taught me over the years.”
For
Wilson’s part, he couldn’t be prouder of his offspring. “I’ve had a
very fulfilling career,” he maintains. “I’ve reached all of my goals.
I’ve played and written for all of the greatest jazz orchestras
[Lunceford, Ellington, Basie and Benny Carter among them], I’ve written
for movies and television, I’ve written for concert orchestras and I’ve
maintained my own band for many decades. But it goes beyond my
accomplishments to see that members of my family are carrying on the
music in their own ways.”
“Everything I write,” Wilson asserts, “from here on in, is going to be jazz. It’s the language I speak and it’s my music.”
Gerald Wilson · Legacy
Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: June 21, 2011
UPCOMING GERALD WILSON ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE:
Gerald Wilson Orchestra at Catalina Bar & Grill
Sunday, June 12 · 7:30pm
6725 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
Phone: 323-466-2210
Web: http://www.catalinajazzclub.com/