Carter Wilson

This live 1990 set makes clear that Cassandra Wilson had fully arrived. In the live setting, she calls on greater reserves of vim than mark her predominantly lolling, brooding studio dates. All to great effect. One senses Betty Carter-like showmanship, Peggy Lee-like swagger, and, of course, Nina Simone's otherworldly drone. Just as formative was Wilson's Joni Mitchell-inspired apprenticeship in the coffeehouses of Jackson, Mississippi, and other southern cities. She breathes fresh life into standards like "'Round Midnight." Her anthem of black resilience, "Don't Look Back," receives driving treatment. A telling selection is Wilson's own composition, "My Corner of the Sky," because its lyrics and delivery transport her to a distinctly personal space of the kind she was coming to inhabit so regally.

This CD has quite a bit of variety. Teddy Wilson is featured on four of his better piano solos, backs Billie Holiday on one session (which resulted in superior versions of "More Than You Know" and "Sugar," and has some fine solo space for altoist Benny Carter and trumpeter Roy Eldridge) and is heard on 13 selections with his new (and unfortunately short-lived) big band. The Teddy Wilson Orchestra was impeccable, tasteful and swinging (just like its leader) but, despite the presence of such soloists as trumpeter Harold "Shorty" Baker and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, it never really stood a chance in the competitive swing world of 1939; the orchestra would only record eight additional titles. However the music on this CD is quite enjoyable and not as common as most of the recordings reissued by the Classics label.

It's difficult to call a guitarist who routinely shows up in the upper reaches of "100 Greatest Guitarists Ever" lists underappreciated, and yet the first impression the towering seven-disc box set Skydog: The Duane Allman Retrospective makes is that Duane Allman does not receive his proper due…

Nancy Wilson - But Beautiful (1969) {Capitol Jazz CDP 7928682 rel 1989}
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© 1969, 1989 Capitol Jazz | CDP 7 92868 2
Jazz / Classical Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Ballads

One of the greatest Nancy Wilson albums of the 60s – a small combo jazz date, done with a style that's different than some of Wilson's larger sessions of the time! The group has a relaxed, easygoing feel – and Wilson slides in with a style that's a lot more laidback and subtle than on other Capitol dates – almost the mellow feel of a late 50s Dakota Staton date, but still song with all the careful class that Nancy brings to her vocals! The group's a quartet, led by pianist Hank Jones – and featuring Gene Bertoncini on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Grady Tate on drums.

Teddy Wilson - The Complete Piano Solos 1934-1941 (1991) {2CD Set Columbia COL 467690 2}
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© 1934-41, 1991 Columbia / Sony Music | COL 467690 2
Jazz / Swing / Piano

Wilson was born in Austin, Texas, on November 24, 1912. He studied piano and violin at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. After working in the Lawrence "Speed" Webb band, with Louis Armstrong, and also understudying Earl Hines in Hines's Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra, Wilson joined Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies in 1933. In 1935, he joined the Benny Goodman Trio (which consisted of Goodman, Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa, later expanded to the Benny Goodman Quartet with the addition of Lionel Hampton).