(RIP) Is Jack Wilson (Atlantic & Blue Note 60s pianist) dead?

[Phenomena]

I got into Jack Wilson when I heard "Something Personal" and his work on Curtis Amy's "Kantanga." His debut on Atlantic (Jack Wilson Quartet 1963) is also a monster. I was wondering what happened to him and if his 60s albums for Vault will be reissued. I'd also like to see a Japanese CD upgrade of "Jack Wilson Quartet" on Atlantic, as the American Collectables CD issued in 2000 (coupled with a Francis Wayne album) is a needle drop from an Lp with massive digital filtering--listen to the massive "swirling" CEDAR digital artifacts during the fade outs. The master tape was not used.

Wikipedia and All Music seem to suggest he may be dead. But it also appears they are confusing with someone else born in 1907. That doesn't seem correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Wilson_(pianist)

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...wifexqy5ldfe~T1

Chicago-born jazz pianist Jack Wilson died of natural causes on Friday, October 5, 2007. The AllMusic bio is about a British Jack Wilson (1907-2006}, but I've added the correct one to Wikipedia (still requiring some neutral editing because I mistakenly wrote it like a blog,) for American Jack.

[Phenomena]

Sorry for the redundancy, I wasn’t able to register before you’d received the news about Jack – glad the word is getting out.

Writer and WBGO disc jockey Sheila Anderson and I went to Jack’s wake out in Bohemia, NY yesterday afternoon. His widow, Sandy, had some wonderful photos that included Ahmad Jamal, Frank Bulter, Leroy Vinnegar, Clark Terry, Kenny Washington, Sonny Stitt on display.

There’s been talk of a musical celebration being planned in his honor. Hope we can all stay in the loop.

[randyhersom]

Harbor Freeway 5 PM from the Blue Note Something Personal would be my choice for his greatest track. I remember three different early Blindfold tests had Jack's dates as a leader, everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

[six string]

I have Easterly Winds, Song for my Daughter and The Two Sides of Jack Wilson on lp. Though they aren't groundbreaking, I still like them a lot and listen to them often. It's a shame that he never really got his due. It sounds like he was on to something with the two piano technique.

RIP

[Phenomena]

everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

Well, I wouldn't say "no one else" but, he is certainly developing cult status rapidly! General consensus here concludes no recordings have surfaced with Jack as leader beyond 1993 and that he was in poor health fairly soon after that. I saw him at the Iridium in NYC a few years ago, wheelchair-bound and somewhat distant.

When I was about 11, tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman’s younger percussionist brother, Roderix (Rod), played “Jackleg” for me and I almost fell off my seat! From then on, I was all over Jack Wilson!

[randyhersom]

everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

Well, I wouldn't say "no one else" but, he is certainly developing cult status rapidly!

Well, you have discovered the humor/irony in being everybody's favorite unknown piano player. Difficult to sneak one by the encyclopedic knowledge of Organissimo board members!! But we kept trying!

[Phenomena]

everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

Well, I wouldn't say "no one else" but, he is certainly developing cult status rapidly!

Well, you have discovered the humor/irony in being everybody's favorite unknown piano player. Difficult to sneak one by the encyclopedic knowledge of Organissimo board members!! But we kept trying!

Let's see if I can sneak a couple in. (If not - I certainly tip my cap.) To save me the time of looking, can you tell me if there's been much conversation about Herman Chittison or John Dennis?

[randyhersom]

Let's see if I can sneak a couple in. (If not - I certainly tip my cap.) To save me the time of looking, can you tell me if there's been much conversation about Herman Chittison or John Dennis?

You got me on those two. John Dennis stumped Wikipedia. I hope Brownie or Bernard cruises this thread, we might have a chance.

How do you like Jabbo Smith?

[Phenomena]

Let's see if I can sneak a couple in. (If not - I certainly tip my cap.) To save me the time of looking, can you tell me if there's been much conversation about Herman Chittison or John Dennis?

You got me on those two. John Dennis stumped Wikipedia. I hope Brownie or Bernard cruises this thread, we might have a chance.

How do you like Jabbo Smith?

So, we're including trumpet players too?

I've heard the name for years - wouldn't recognize his work if it licked me in my ear canal. After traipsing over to iTunes for some samples, I liked what I heard.

[Phenomena]

Let's see if I can sneak a couple in. (If not - I certainly tip my cap.) To save me the time of looking, can you tell me if there's been much conversation about Herman Chittison or John Dennis?

You got me on those two. John Dennis stumped Wikipedia. I hope Brownie or Bernard cruises this thread, we might have a chance.

How do you like Jabbo Smith?

I'm wondering if there'd be much demand for a book of some sort of the unsung heroes of Jazz, but something really interesting that would make folks think, "Man, I really gotta find out more about THAT guy!"

[ghost of miles]

Previous John Dennis discussion

Glad to see you aboard, Phenomena.

[Phenomena]

everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

Well, I wouldn't say "no one else" but, he is certainly developing cult status rapidly!

Well, you have discovered the humor/irony in being everybody's favorite unknown piano player. Difficult to sneak one by the encyclopedic knowledge of Organissimo board members!! But we kept trying!

Has anyone come across this YouTube clip? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD8aRXkXJTs. It features Jack playing with the Gerald Wilson orchestra.

[ghost of miles]

Thanks for posting that--great to see Joe Maini, Teddy Edwards, Freddie Hill, Jack Nimitz and Mel Lewis as well.

Edited October 11, 2007 by ghost of miles

[moggsy]

Harbor Freeway 5 PM from the Blue Note Something Personal would be my choice for his greatest track. I remember three different early Blindfold tests had Jack's dates as a leader, everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

[moggsy]

Harbor Freeway 5 PM from the Blue Note Something Personal would be my choice for his greatest track. I remember three different early Blindfold tests had Jack's dates as a leader, everybody here thinks of him as this great piano player that no one else knows about.

Thanks, Jack.

At Last!

Someone else who is a true fan of Jack Wilson. He is probably my favourite pianist and I have ten of his albums/CD's in my collection. Did you know he recorded a different, more uptempo version of Harbor Freeway 5 p.m.? If you get information on the memorial for him could you post it? Thanks !!!

[sidewinder]

Thanks for posting that--great to see Joe Maini, Teddy Edwards, Freddie Hill, Jack Nimitz and Mel Lewis as well.

Frank Evans's 'Frankly Jazz'. Hopefully that series gets put out on DVD some day. Jazz Crusaders, Bud Shank, Clare Fisher, CurtisAmy/Dupree Bolton, Paul Horn.

[sheldonm]

Thanks for posting that--great to see Joe Maini, Teddy Edwards, Freddie Hill, Jack Nimitz and Mel Lewis as well.

...and Buddy Collette. I met him in LA last year....wonderful man!!!

m~

[monkboughtlunch]

My guess is that Lewerke still owns those masters and leased them to Fresh Sound, but for some reason hasn't got the masters for "Jazz organs" and the other that hasn't been reissued. If Atlantic owned them, I reckon they'd have come out on Collectables.

MG

I doubt anyone has leased anything to Fresh Sound. "Ramblin" is clearly a needle drop. My guess is that Fresh Sound pirated the recording as Spain must have different copyright laws with respect to how many years it takes for a published recording to enter public domain.

You can hear the LP surface noise and swirling NoNoise/CEDAR artifacts especially during quiet passages and fade outs.

Check out the Spain Lou Donaldson "Musty Rusty" -- another needle drop. Those Spanish folks are not using the masters and are most likely operating without permission of the current tape owners.

[randyhersom]

But while we've brought the subject of Jack Wilson back up, anybody heard The Jazz Organs. There are about three rarities that I haven't had a chance to hear, that's one.

[monkboughtlunch]

But while we've brought the subject of Jack Wilson back up, anybody heard The Jazz Organs. There are about three rarities that I haven't had a chance to hear, that's one.

Haven't heard it either. If anyone has it, please PM me!

[monkboughtlunch]

I tracked down Innovations from circa 1977. This is an excellent date. Hope this makes it to CD. BTW, seems like Wilson is a perfect candidate for a Mosaic retrospective from the master source tapes.

Most of his music is out of print and scattered across 3 or 4 labels. And of the few titles in print on CD, most are just inferior sounding needle-drops (transfers from old records, like Ramblin and Jack Wilson Quartet).

Frustrating.

[mikeweil]

I doubt some of the master tapes still exist. I researched the recordings Jack Wilson did with Roy Ayers, and the matrix numbers look like they were recorded for Atlantic but released on Vault - some was never issued. No idea whether the tapes were destroyed by the fire in the Atlantic tape storage building. No idea where the tapes of the Vault label are ...

 

The Discovery label stopped operating many years ago - it was Albert Marx' label, IIRC. Since his passing in 1991, nothing much has happened with the label's catalog, which consisted of new productions (the two Jack Wilson Trio LPs recorded after his stroke included) and reissues of his productions for other labels in the past. A very interesting catalogue ...

Edited January 27, 2019 by mikeweil

[monkboughtlunch]

I don't know what media conglomerate owns the Vault master tapes. Anyone know who gobbled up Vault and is sitting on the masters?

Vault's owner was Jack Lewerke, who died in 1977. His son Greg is a well known manager of many rock acts and, according to his email address at the bottom of this web page (www.ronrainey.com), has still something to do with Vault. Maybe you can ask him who's the current owner.

Hi

Thanks for the tip! I emailed Greg Lewerke and asked who currently owns the Vault catalog and the Jack Wilson album "Ramblin.'"

Greg's response:

All the masters are owned by WB/Rhino.

Thanks,

Greg

Does anyone have a contact at Warner Brothers who we can reach out to and ask if a "Ramblin" reissue is possible? The "Fresh Sounds Spain" CD version of this title published in Spain is a needle drop bootleg dubbed from an old Lp. This fantastic date deserve a legal release from the master tapes.

Someone please help!!!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

But while we've brought the subject of Jack Wilson back up, anybody heard The Jazz Organs. There are about three rarities that I haven't had a chance to hear, that's one.

I've got it. This is what I posted here about three years ago (pay attention, squire )

There is also, on Vault, this LP

The Jazz Organs - organ duets with Henry Cain, with Gene Edwards, Leroy V & Donald Bailey and with Genghis Kyle with John Gray (g), Leroy V & Philly Joe. Kind of low key but interesting. But my copy is mono - it would be nice to have a stereo version.

Genghis Kyle is apparently still active on the West Coast. Seen him Chewy?

MG

[Peter Friedman]

I have 5 CDs with Jack Wilson as leader. They are all enjoyable, but none of them are, in my

opinion, outstanding. My favorite Wilson session is this one:

Jack Wilson - In New York - DIW

Recorded June 4, 1993