Gerald Wilson was a trumpet player, but gained his greatest fame as a composer, arranger and band leader. He was born on September 4, 1918 in Shelby, Mississippi.

In 1939 Wilson joined the Jimmie Lunceford band replacing arranger Sy Young in the trumpet section. He wrote music for Lunceford and also contributed to the libraries of groups led by Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Benny Carter.

During World War II Gerald Wilson was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Waukegan, Illinois and played in the jazz band there along with Clark Terry, Al Grey, Ernie Wilkins and Jimmy Nottingham. After the war Wilson led his own band in Los Angeles which performed at the Cavalcade of Jazz, the first outdoor jazz festival produced by an African American.

Beginning in 1960 Wilson led a big band in Los Angeles that included such jazz stars as Joe Pass, Bud Shank, Snooky Young, Harold Land, Roy Ayres and Richard “Groove” Holmes. For some years Wilson maintained jazz orchestras on both coasts and recorded 25 albums as a leader during his career. His unique conducting style while leading his bands, or as a guest conductor with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the BBC Big Band garnered a good deal of notice, too.

Gerald Wilson was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1990 and was presented the Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legends Award in 2008. Wilson passed away in 2014 at the age of 96.

Here is a link to a video of Gerald Wilson leading his band in the studio while making the album “Detroit” in 2009:

"BEFORE MOTOWN"