Teddy Wilson

{{About|the jazz musician|the actor|Theodore Wilson|other people|Teddy Wilson (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Teddy Wilson

| image = Teddy Wilson (William P Gottlieb).jpg

| caption = Wilson in 1940

| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|11|24}}

| birth_place = Austin, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|7|31|1912|11|24}}

| death_place = New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = Piano

| years_active =

| label =

}}

Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986){{cite web |title=NEA Jazz Master: Teddy Wilson, Pianist, Arranger, Educator |url=http://www.nea.gov/honors/jazz/jmCMS/master.php?id=1986_03&type=bio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515192618/http://nea.gov/honors/jazz/jmCMS/master.php?id=1986_03&type=bio |archive-date=May 15, 2012 |access-date=June 17, 2012 |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts}} was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist",{{cite web |last=Yanow |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Yanow |title=Teddy Wilson Biography |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=teddy-wilson-mn0000017990 |tab=biography |pure_url=yes}} |access-date=February 24, 2016 |work=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network}} Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic.{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Fred |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/23356191 |title=More dialogues in swing: intimate conversations with the stars of the big band era |date=1991 |publisher=Pathfinder Pub. of Calif |isbn=0-934793-31-X |oclc=23356191}} His style was highly influenced by Earl Hines and Art Tatum.{{Cite journal |last1=Hardish |first1=Patrick |last2=Schuller |first2=Gunther |date=March 1994 |title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/898575 |journal=Notes |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=502–507 |doi=10.2307/898575 |jstor=898575 |issn=0027-4380|url-access=subscription }} His work was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to perform prominently alongside white musicians.{{Cite book |last=Cline-Ransome |first=Lesa |title=Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History |publisher=Holiday House |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8234-2362-0}} In addition to his extensive work as a sideman, Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 1920s to the 1980s.

Life and career

= Early life =

Wilson was born in Austin, Texas.{{cite book |title=The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz |date=1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=0-85112-580-8 |editor=Colin Larkin |edition=First |page=433}} Under his parents as school teachers, his early music education began at the age 6 with piano.{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=McClellan |date=2005-03-01 |title=The later swing era, 1942-1955 |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=42 |issue=7 |pages=35–38 |doi=10.5860/choice.42-3943 |doi-broken-date=February 1, 2025 |issn=0009-4978}} Then, he studied violin, oboe, and clarinet at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Teddy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9t2Ak-km4zwC&q=teddy+wilson+honorary+doctorate+berklee&pg=PA84-IA8 |title=Teddy Wilson Talks Jazz: The Autobiography of Teddy Wilson |date=September 2001 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-5797-4}}

= From 1929 to the early 1930s =

Wilson moved to Detroit with his brother, musician Gus Wilson. Teddy began his professional career in 1929 with Speed Webb's band. Wilson then took over the pianist position of bandleader Milton Senior's band from Art Tatum in 1930. After touring with the band in Chicago, he decided to stay in Chicago and worked with Louis Armstrong and his orchestra between 1931–1933. He also understudied Earl Hines in Hines's Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra before moving to New York to perform with Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies in 1933.

= From the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s =

In 1935, while jamming with Benny Goodman and Carl Bellinger at a house party held by Mildred Bailey, they caught the attention of producer John Hammond, who arranged several recording sessions for them. These recordings became the basis of the Benny Goodman Trio, which consisted of Goodman, Wilson, and drummer Gene Krupa (and, later, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton). The trio performed during the Goodman big band's intermissions. By joining the trio, Wilson became one of the first black musicians to perform prominently in a racially integrated group.

Hammond was also instrumental in getting Wilson a contract with Brunswick Records from 1935 to 1939 to record hot swing arrangements of the popular songs of the day, with the growing jukebox trade in mind. During these years, he also took part in many sessions with swing musicians such as Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, Red Norvo, Buck Clayton, and Ben Webster. 38 of his recordings have been hits and these are mostly chamber jazz recordings with singers such as Lena Horne, Helen Ward, Ella Fitzgerald, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday.{{Citation |first=Donald |last=Clarke |title=Wishing on the Moon: the Life and Times of Billie Holiday |date=2015 |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/910537904 |access-date=2023-04-30 |publisher=Blackstone Audio, Inc |isbn=978-1-5046-5387-9 |oclc=910537904}} Among those vocals, Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson made fourteen sides together in 1935 alone. From 1939 to 1942, he recorded for Columbia Records. He also left his residency with Goodman's band and formed his own fifteen-piece big band in 1939, but it only lasted around a year due to the lack of individuality in his band.{{Cite journal |last1=Hardish |first1=Patrick |last2=Schuller |first2=Gunther |date=March 1994 |title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/898575 |journal=Notes |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=502–507 |doi=10.2307/898575 |jstor=898575 |issn=0027-4380|url-access=subscription }} In 1944, he returned to his sidemen position in the Benny Goodman Sextet and his musical association with Goodman continued until 1962. In the mid to the late 1940s, Wilson mainly focused on studio recordings, on-screen performances, and radio broadcasts, instead of playing on public stages.

= Café Society =

After the demise of his big band, Wilson formed a sextet that performed at Café Society from 1940 to 1944. There, he led jazz shows called "chamber jazz" with a dance orchestra composed of himself, Frankie Newton, Ed Hall, and Billie Holiday.{{Cite journal |last=Stowe |first=David W. |date=March 1998 |title=The Politics of Cafe Society |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2568086 |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=84 |issue=4 |pages=1384–1406 |doi=10.2307/2568086 |jstor=2568086 |issn=0021-8723|url-access=subscription }} He was dubbed the "Marxist Mozart" by Howard "Stretch" Johnson due to his support for left-wing causes: he performed in benefit concerts for The New Masses journal and for Russian War Relief, and he chaired the Artists' Committee to elect Benjamin J. Davis (a New York City council member running on the Communist Party USA ballot line).{{cite book |last=Denning |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/culturalfrontlab0000denn/page/317 |title=The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Verso |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-84467-464-0 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/culturalfrontlab0000denn/page/317 317] |author-link=Michael Denning}} Later, the FBI suspended Wilson's performing activities on broadcast, radio, and social activities alleging that he was involved in Communism.{{Cite web |last=Gerdes |first=Louise I |title=The 1940s {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/42798217 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=www.worldcat.org |language=en}}

= The late 1940s and 1950s =

From 1945 to 1952, Wilson taught at the Juilliard School. After that, he toured across numerous countries in Europe, including Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland. In the 1950s, he recorded for Verve Records. Wilson can also be seen appearing as himself in the motion pictures Hollywood Hotel (1937) and The Benny Goodman Story (1955). He later worked as music director for the Dick Cavett Show.

= Later years =

Wilson resided in suburban Hillsdale, New Jersey.{{cite news |date=July 1, 1973 |title=Jersey Is Home To Teddy Wilson; One Son Is a Teacher |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E0CE7DF103FEE37A25752C0A9619C946290D6CF |quote=Mr. Wilson settled in Hillsdale 10 years ago, when he and his present wife, were married.}} He was married three times, including to the songwriter Irene Kitchings. He performed as a soloist and with pickup groups until the final years of his life, including leading a trio with his sons Theodore Wilson on bass and Steven Wilson on drums.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Teddy Wilson Profile |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians |publisher=jazz.com |url=http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/wilson-teddy-theodore-shaw |access-date=May 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720210714/http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/wilson-teddy-theodore-shaw |archive-date=July 20, 2013 |url-status=dead}}

In 1979, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.

He died of stomach cancer in New Britain, Connecticut, on July 31, 1986, aged 73. He is buried at Fairview Cemetery in New Britain. In addition to Theodore and Steven, Wilson had three more children, William, James (Jim) and Dune.{{cite news |date=August 1, 1986 |title=Teddy Wilson Dies; Pianist and Leader Of 30's Jazz Combos |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/01/obituaries/teddy-wilson-dies-pianist-and-leader-of-30-s-jazz-combos.html}}

Musical style

According to Wilson, he was first exposed to jazz by listening to the music of Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Waller. He then developed his own musical vocabulary based on the styles of Art Tatum and Earl Hines.{{Cite journal |last1=Hardish |first1=Patrick |last2=Schuller |first2=Gunther |date=March 1994 |title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/898575 |journal=Notes |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=502–507 |doi=10.2307/898575 |jstor=898575 |issn=0027-4380|url-access=subscription }} When it comes to Tatum's influence, Wilson's fast right-hand runs can be traced to Tatum's similar right-hand embellishments. However, Wilson's playing focused on diatonic, "inside" harmonic ideas based on triads and extensions. He also pursued a style of improvisation based on lyrical melodic development. Furthermore, Wilson's playing is characterized by consistent dynamic expression with an elegant touch. His fluid runs and gracefully relaxed rhythmic coordination with clean and even phrasing might have been reflected by his reserved personality and his experience with Benny Goodman under racial segregation.{{Cite journal |last=Alper |first=Garth |date=August 2011 |title="What is This Thing Called Love?" as Conceptualized by Nine Jazz Pianists |journal=Jazz Perspectives |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=115–134 |doi=10.1080/17494060.2011.637679 |issn=1749-4060|doi-access=free }} Teddy Wilson contributed to modernizing the pianistic articulation in contrast to the raw Harlem Stride Piano.{{Cite book |last=Berendt |first=Joachim-Ernst |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1313256341 |title=The jazz book : from ragtime to the 21st century |isbn=978-1-61374-602-8 |pages=369–370 |oclc=1313256341}}

While adapting tenth voicing in his left hand and horn-like doubled-octave playing in the right hand from Earl Hines, he pursued a lighter and thinner texture with a relatively simple rhythmic ideas and a single melodic device than Hines.{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=McClellan |date=2005-03-01 |title=The later swing era, 1942-1955 |journal=Choice Reviews Online |volume=42 |issue=7 |pages=35–38 |doi=10.5860/choice.42-3943 |doi-broken-date=February 1, 2025 |issn=0009-4978}}

Though he played with a lot of bebop musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie during his work as a sideman, he held on to swing vocabulary based on chord tone arpeggios and diatonic harmony.{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Richard |date=1973 |title=Jazz Circa 1945: A Confluence of Styles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mq/lix.4.531 |journal=The Musical Quarterly |volume=LIX |issue=4 |pages=531–546 |doi=10.1093/mq/lix.4.531 |issn=0027-4631|url-access=subscription }} His playing on "Congo Blues"{{Citation |title=Red Norvo & His Sextet - Congo Blues - 1945 | date=January 29, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZae-TIij2M |access-date=2023-04-02 |language=en}} for Red Norvo and His Sextet in 1945, for examples, demonstrates the stylistic contrast between Wilson and Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.

Wilson's style went on to influence other pianists such as his contemporary Mary Lou Williams,{{Citation |last=Gridley |first=Mark C. |title=Jazz styles: jazz classics compact disc |date= |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/42698384 |access-date=2023-04-02 |publisher=Sony Music Special Products [manufacturer] |isbn=0-13-012693-4 |oclc=42698384}} Mel Powell, Billy Kyle, Jess Stacy, and Joe Bushkin.

Discography

= As leader =

1928-32 - The Chronological 1928-1932 (Classics, 1990)
1934-35 - The Chronological 1934-1935 (Classics, 1990) (four CBS recordings, rest Brunswick)
1935-36 - The Chronological 1935-1936 (Classics, 1990)
1936-37 - The Chronological 1936-1937 (Classics, 1990)
1937-00 - The Chronological 1937 (Classics, 1996)
1937-38 - The Chronological 1937-1938 (Classics, 1996)
1938-00 - The Chronological 1938 (Classics, 1996)
1939-00 - The Chronological 1939 (Classics, 1996)
1939-41 - The Chronological 1939-1941 (Classics, 1996)
1942-45 - The Chronological 1939-1941 (Classics, 1996)
1946-00 - The Chronological 1939-1941 (Classics, 1996)
1947-50 - The Chronological 1939-1941 (Classics, 1996)
1941-42: Columbia Presents Teddy Wilson (Columbia, 1942) (4x10"Lp)

1944: Teddy Wilson Sextet (The Onyx Club New York Original Live Recordings)
1952: Runnin' Wild (MGM)
1952: Just A Mood – Teddy Wilson Quartet Starring Harry James & Red Norvo (Columbia EP B-1569/5-1277)
1955: The Creative Teddy Wilson (Norgran) – also released as For Quiet Lovers (Verve)
1956: Pres and Teddy (Verve) with Lester Young
1956: I Got Rhythm (Verve)
1956: Intimate Listening (Verve)
1956: These Tunes Remind Me of You (Verve)
1957: The Impeccable Mr. Wilson (Verve)
1957: The Teddy Wilson Trio & Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Bob Brookmeyer at Newport (Verve)
1957: The Touch of Teddy Wilson (Verve)
1959: Mr. Wilson and Mr. Gershwin (Columbia)
1959: Gypsy in Jazz (Columbia)
1959: And Then They Wrote... (Columbia)
1963: Teddy Wilson 1964 (Cameo)
1967: Moonglow (Black Lion)
1968: The Noble Art of Teddy Wilson (Metronome)
1972: With Billie in Mind (Chiaroscuro)
1973: Runnin' Wild (Black Lion)
1976: Live at Santa Tecla
1980: Teddy Wilson Trio Revisits the Goodman Years
1983: Alone (Storyville)
1990: Air Mail Special

= As sideman =

1935: Mildred Bailey, Mildred Bailey and Her Alley Cats{{Cite AV media notes |title=Mildred Bailey |first=Roy |last=Hemming |page=5 |type=liner notes |publisher=Decca Records |id=GRD-644}} (Columbia)
1935–1939: Benny Goodman, The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (RCA)
1938: Benny Goodman, The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert (Columbia)
1946-1947: Sarah Vaughan, The Chronological 1946–1947 (Classics. ?)
1954: Ben Webster, Music for Loving (Norgran)
1973: Eiji Kitamura, Swing Special
1974: Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (album) (Shelter Records)
1975: Eiji Kitamura, Teddy and Eiji- Live Session
1980: Eiji Kitamura, Teddy Wilson Meets Eiji Kitamura

References

External links

{{Discogs artist|254769-Teddy-Wilson}}
[http://blueblackjazz.com/en/artist/24/teddy-wilson Teddy Wilson on BlueBlackJazz.com]
{{IMDb name|0934210}}
{{Find a Grave|5797031}}
[https://archivesspace.libraries.rutgers.edu/repositories/6/resources/328 Teddy Wilson music, papers, and artifacts], Institute of Jazz Studies, (Rutgers University)

Category:1912 births

Category:1986 deaths

Category:Musicians from Austin, Texas

Category:People from Hillsdale, New Jersey

Category:American big band bandleaders

Category:Swing pianists

Category:Mainstream jazz pianists

Category:African-American pianists

Category:American jazz pianists

Category:American male jazz pianists

Category:Tuskegee University alumni

Category:Juilliard School faculty