Gerald Wilson (born 1918) played trumpet and wrote arrangements for Jimmie Lunceford from 1939 to 1941, led an under-recorded bebop big band (1944-1947) and played and arranged for Basie and Ellington. He arranged for Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson and many others. His most famous composition is probably Viva Tirado, which was a big hit for El Chicano. He made 10 albums for Pacific Jazz and World Pacific in the 60's. With one exception, they're all first-rate; the one exception is by no means bad! I'll be posting them over the next couple of months.
I have all the LPs, but I'll rip from the Mosaic set, which you can buy HERE and support Mr. Wilson, who is still alive, still a grand master.
Gerald Wilson Orchestra - Eternal Equinox
World Pacific, 1969
Ripped @ 320 from the 5-CD Mosaic Gerald Wilson box set and retagged.
Out of print, but not hard to find. I've seen it on ebay for 5 bucks.
This is one of hell of a big band album. Richard "Groove" Holmes plays his ass off on the first track, Bobby Hutcherson solos beautifully on a couple of other tracks, Jen-Luc Ponty, who I usually can't listen to at all, tears it up on Scorpio Rising and, I mean, HAROLD LAND!? You gotta check out this fantastic album.
1. Equinox (Coltrane)
2. Aquarius (Rado, Ragni, MacDermot)
3. Pisces (Wilson)
4. Scorpio Rising (Wilson)
5. Celestial Soul (Wilson)
6. Baby, Baby Don't Cry (Robinson, Cleveland, Johnson)
7. You, Me and Now (Wilson)
8. Bluesnee (Wilson)
Gerald Wilson (arr); Larry McGuire, Jay Daversa, Paul Hubinon, Tony Rusch, William Peterson (tp); Lester Robinson, Frank Strong, Thurman Green (tb); Alexander Thomas, Mike Wimberley (bass tb); Arthur Maebe (fhr); Henry DeVega, Anthony Ortega, Bud Shank (as); William Green (fl, pic); Ernie Watts (ts, fl, pic); Hadley Caliman, Harold Land (ts); Richard Alplanalp (bari); Jean-Luc Ponty (v); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); Wilbert Longmire (g); Richard "Groove" Holmes (org); George Duke (p); Bob West (el-b); Carl Lott, Paul Humphrey (d)
Recorded in LA, early June, 1969.
I don't have a scanner yet, but when I do, I'll provide scans for this and every other album I've posted.
LINK
All About Jazz: Article | Interview
In harmony,
Chris
4 comments:
waw, cant' wait for this scanner!
please could you post the complete gerald wilson box @ 320k? it deserves
Whatchu mean you can't listen to Jean-Luc?!
I have the Mosaic issue and was able to see and hear the Gerald Wilson band in person in LA during the 1960's, specifically in a couple of after hours gigs at The Adams West Theater starting at 2 am. I also played with many of the guys in the band.
Regarding the albums Gerald Wilson made for Pacific Jazz, if you have the very first one, YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, you might do Mosaic a favor and send them "The Whailer". For some reason, the master tapes Mosaic obtained do not contain Richard "Groove" Holmes organ playing in the last eight bars of the track. I actually called Mosaic to ask about it, as I had once owned this debut album on stereo reel to reel.
Final add: Gerald's band was just fantastic: it's a shame he couldn't tour, but so many of the players were key studio cats, it wouldn't have worked: Anchored by the wonderful drummer, Mel Lewis, I thought the band was the best at the beginning as reflected in the first three or four albums, although the one you featured wasn't bad. Gerald Wilson's writing was so inventive, it deserved to be played by the best jazz players in LA at the time and it was.
Bill Baldwin, Jr.
Los Angeles
More Gerald Wilson here: http://easyjams.blogspot.com/2010/12/gerald-wilson-on-stage-1965.html
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