Born in Shelby, Mississippi on September 4, 1918, Gerald Wilson was a self-taught jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He is recognized as one of the great big band leaders of his generation. At the age of six, his mother began teaching him to play the piano and five years later, she taught him the trumpet. At the age of 16, he relocated to Detroit, Michigan to continue his schooling, graduating from Cass Technical High School. In 1939, he replaced Sy Oliver in the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, and brought along some of his own compositions. After relocating to Los Angeles, California , Gerald Wilson was drafted into the US Navy during World War II and formed his own orchestra in 1944, which lasted until 1947. He went on to play with and compose for Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie before reforming the Gerald Wilson Orchestra in 1953, which proved to be a success. In 1960, he formed a Los Angeles-based ensemble and recorded a series of acclaimed albums for the Pacific Jazz label including You Better Believe It! (1961), Moment of Truth (1962), Portraits (1964) and Eternal Equinox (1963). Gerald Wilson’s ensemble was voted Best Jazz Orchestra by Down Beat Magazine in 1963 and his popularity opened up many opportunities for him to work as an arranger for other artists including Ray Charles, Nancy Wilson, Johnny Hartman, Julie London, and Ella Fitzgerald. Gerald Wilson taught jazz history in the L.A. area from 1969 and was commissioned by Zubin Mehta to compose an original piece of music for the Los Angeles Symphony in 1972. Gerald Wilson returned to the recording studio in 1981 for albums such as Lomelin (1981), Jessica (1982), and Calafia (1984). After another short recording hiatus, he returned with a series of albums including State Street Sweet (1995), Theme for Monterey (1998), New York New Sound (2003), In My Time (2005), Monterey Moods (2007), Detroit (2009) and Legacy (2011). With a long and influential career, his back catalog was given an upgrade with anthologies such as 1945-1946 (1998), 1946-1954 (2007) and The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings (2000). During his career, Gerald Wilson was honored with many awards including three Grammy Awards, an NEA Jazz Masters Award (1990), an American Jazz Award (1997), the Monterey Festival Jazz Legends Award (2008) and a Los Angeles Jazz Treasure Award (2012). His recordings were entered into the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Hospitalized for pneumonia, Gerald Wilson died on September 8, 2014, four days after his 96th birthday.
