74 replies to this topic

[monkboughtlunch]

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....ilson_(pianist)

http://www.allmusic....wifexqy5ldfe~T1

Edited by monkboughtlunch, 31 July 2007 - 08:09 PM.

[marcello]

There's confusion here.
The Jack Wilson you're looking for is Black and was born in Chicago in 1936.
Don't know if he's alive.

[clifford_thornton]

I have Ramblin' on Vault via a Fresh Sound reissue. It's rather good.

I had Easterly Winds at one point on LP, but culled it - not a clean copy, though the music is fine indeed.

AMG are full of shit most of the time.

[ghost of miles]

Somebody else here will probably respond first (I did a quick perusal of liner notes & books on hand & didn't find the answer), but I e-mailed a friend of mine on the coast who's a longtime J. Wilson fan.

[ghost of miles]

Apparently still alive but no longer musically active.

Edited by ghost of miles, 31 July 2007 - 09:41 PM.

[BruceH]

I think Easterly Winds is the only thing I have by him as a leader, but it's a keeper.

[Eric]

He also had a very nice album on DIW in the last 10-15 years.

Edited by Eric, 11 June 2012 - 05:13 PM.

[Daniel A]

The Collectables reissues are mostly mediocre when it comes to sound (look elsewhere on these forums for further rants). Always go for original vinyl if a turntable is at hand. 'Brazilian Mancini' on Vault is not too exciting; 'Ramblin' is said to be rather better but unfortunately I have not heard it myself. Look for several other fine sideman appearances, for example with Roy Ayers.

Edited by Daniel A, 01 August 2007 - 03:11 PM.

[Daniel A]

Forgot to mention that 'Ramblin', while stated as "Out of print", seems to be available from freshsoundrecords.com. At least you can put it in you shopping basket.

[mikeweil]

Ramblin' is a nice album! Wilson and Roy Ayers were a dream team, IMO.
He suffered a stroke or an accident in the 1970's after presenting an astonishing new simultaneous playing technique for two keyboards, and had to start all over again. He succeeded, but his career never quite recovered.

[monkboughtlunch]

Check out this unissued Atlantic dates. Does this exist in the vaults or was it destroyed in the Atlantic warehouse fire in the 70s?

From: http://www.jazzdisco.org/atlantic/

Jack Wilson Quartet
Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Nick Martinis (d)
Los Angeles, CA, January 24, 1963
6748 Herman's Helmet Atlantic unissued
6749 Di Critifeux -
6759 Nirvana And Dana -
6760 Harbor Freeway -
6761 Smif's Blues -

Jack Wilson Septet
Bobby Bryant (tp, flh) Lou Blackburn (tb) Buddy Collette (as, fl) Harold Land (ts) Jack Wilson (p) Leroy Vinnegar (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8122 Yours Is My Heart Alone Atlantic unissued
Jack Wilson Orchestra
Emmett Berry, Melvin Moore, Charlie Patterson (tp) Bobby Bryant (tp, flh) Lou Blackburn, Donald Cook, John Ewing, Pete Myers (tb) Buddy Collette (as, fl) Jay Migliori (as, ss) Harold Land (ts) Curtis Amy (ts, ss) Jack Nimitz (bars, cl) Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8123 The Good Life Atlantic unissued
8125 The Fourth Dance -
Jack Wilson Quintet
Curtis Amy (ts, ss) Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8124 Woody'n You Atlantic unissued
Jack Wilson Quartet
Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8126 Medley: Young And Foolish / Goodbye Atlantic unissued
8127 Oleo -
8128 Out Of Sight -
8129 Most Soulful Man -
8130 Walkin' -
8131 Tenderly -
8132 Jackleg -
8133 Medley: Too Late Now / CFD -
8134 Flame On The Desert -
8135 Nirvana -
8136 Harbor Freeway -

[Eric]

Check out this unissued Atlantic dates. Does this exist in the vaults or was it destroyed in the Atlantic warehouse fire in the 70s?

From: http://www.jazzdisco.org/atlantic/

Jack Wilson Quartet
Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Nick Martinis (d)
Los Angeles, CA, January 24, 1963
6748 Herman's Helmet Atlantic unissued
6749 Di Critifeux -
6759 Nirvana And Dana -
6760 Harbor Freeway -
6761 Smif's Blues -

Jack Wilson Septet
Bobby Bryant (tp, flh) Lou Blackburn (tb) Buddy Collette (as, fl) Harold Land (ts) Jack Wilson (p) Leroy Vinnegar (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8122 Yours Is My Heart Alone Atlantic unissued
Jack Wilson Orchestra
Emmett Berry, Melvin Moore, Charlie Patterson (tp) Bobby Bryant (tp, flh) Lou Blackburn, Donald Cook, John Ewing, Pete Myers (tb) Buddy Collette (as, fl) Jay Migliori (as, ss) Harold Land (ts) Curtis Amy (ts, ss) Jack Nimitz (bars, cl) Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8123 The Good Life Atlantic unissued
8125 The Fourth Dance -
Jack Wilson Quintet
Curtis Amy (ts, ss) Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8124 Woody'n You Atlantic unissued
Jack Wilson Quartet
Roy Ayers (vib) Jack Wilson (p) Al McKibbon (b) Philly Joe Jones (d)
"Lindy Opera House", Los Angeles, CA, August 9, 1964
8126 Medley: Young And Foolish / Goodbye Atlantic unissued
8127 Oleo -
8128 Out Of Sight -
8129 Most Soulful Man -
8130 Walkin' -
8131 Tenderly -
8132 Jackleg -
8133 Medley: Too Late Now / CFD -
8134 Flame On The Desert -
8135 Nirvana -
8136 Harbor Freeway -

VERY interesting (I have no idea as to the answer to your question)

[clifford_thornton]

Huh.

[chewy]

can you elaborate on that two-piano technique you mentioned?


and other unreleased dates look like some SERIOUS SERIOUS w.c.j!!!!

[monkboughtlunch]

Forgot to mention that 'Ramblin', while stated as "Out of print", seems to be available from freshsoundrecords.com. At least you can put it in you shopping basket.

The Fresh Sound version of Ramblin is a bootleg produced in EU (Spain?) and is sourced from an Lp needle drop. There is also a mastering error as the tracks on the CD don't correspond to track numbers on the booklet.

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

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

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

[randyhersom]

I have the LP Innovations on the Discovery label and it features Jack simultaneously playing acoustic and electric piano. I like it, but not as much as Something Personal or Ramblin'. I'd probably upgrade if MP3s or CD were available.

[mikeweil]

Yes, I thought the same after buying the first of his two Discovery LPs with the two-piano technique. He played a lot of counterpoint with each hand on a different keyboard in a rather virtuosic, busy style.
I have to admit that outside of his partnership with Roy Ayers, he didn't thrill me that much as a pianist, not even on his Atlantic trio LP.

[mikeweil]

It's interesting that the matrix numbers of his Vault recordings are in line with those for Atlantic, like they were recorded for Atlantic and taken over by Vault. If that's true, there might be a slight chance they're still lying around somewhere, otherwise I'd say they were destroyed in the fire.
That Vault label also released two Hampton Hawes LPs which also were reissued on Fresh Sound.
Wonder why they never got around two reissue the other two Wilson Vault LPs - maybe for lack of vinyl to drop the needle on?

Edited by mikeweil, 14 August 2007 - 09:34 AM.

[Eloe Omoe]

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.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It's interesting that the matrix numbers of his Vault recordings are in line with those for Atlantic, like they were recorded for Atlantic and taken over by Vault. If that's true, there might be a slight chance they're still lying around somewhere, otherwise I'd say they were destroyed in the fire.
That Vault label also released two Hampton Hawes LPs which also were reissued on Fresh Sound.
Wonder why they never got around two reissue the other two Wilson Vault LPs - maybe for lack of vinyl to drop the needle on?

Vault was distributed by Atco and their LPs bore the Atlantic address: 1841 Broadway, NY 22. But the label appears to have been owned by Jack Lewerke. He also produced the Hampton Hawes TV show that Fresh Sound has reissued (with Criss, Edwards & Turner), which originally appeared on JAS.

It wasn't uncommon for distributing labels to assign master numbers to recordings they picked up from other labels; Chess did that a helluva lot.

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

[ghost of miles]

Posted to the Jazz Programmer listserv this afternoon:

Just received this sad news from Mosaic Records:

Pianist Jack Wilson passed away Friday morning at 8 am at the Nursing home that he had spent the last several years.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Sorry to hear that. RIP.

MG

[Aggie87]

Rest in Peace, Jack!

[mikeweil]

RIP - I still hope for an Ayers/Wilson Mosaic!

[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....ilson_(pianist)

http://www.allmusic....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.
[/quote]

[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!