Jack Wilson was an American jazz pianist and composer.
Biography
Early life
Wilson was born in Chicago on August 3, 1936, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana at age seven. From 1949 to 1954, he studied piano with Carl Atkinson at the Fort Wayne College of Music. It was during this time that he was introduced to the music of George Shearing. Later picking up tenor saxophone, Wilson played in the Central High School band and began performing locally as a leader of small combos. By his fifteenth birthday, he had become the youngest member ever to join the Fort Wayne Musicians Union. At the age of 17 he played a two-week stint as a substitute pianist in James Moody's band. After graduating from Central High, Wilson spent a year-and-a-half at the Indiana University, encountering Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton. Touring with a rock 'n' roll band, he wound up in Columbus, Ohio, connecting with the then unknown Nancy Wilson and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
In 1963 Wilson recorded his first album as a leader, The Jack Wilson Quartet Featuring Roy Ayers for Atlantic Records. The session began off with Wilson's blazing "Jackleg". This lively session was followed by another Atlantic date fifteen months later, three sessions for Vault and then an invitation to the Blue Note label, the results of which produced three records, including Easterly Winds in 1967. After his final Blue Note session in 1968, Wilson focused on work with vocalist Esther Phillips until 1977, when he recorded Innovations, the first of three record dates for the Los Angeles-based Discovery label. This also brought about a return to sideman work with Lorez Alexandria, Tutti Camarata and Eddie Harris well into the 1980s. In 1985, Jack relocated to New York City with the help of jazz pianist, Barry Harris, and appeared in duo performance with Harris at the Jazz Cultural Theater 368 Eighth Avenue New York City February 1, 1985, a club operated by Harris. Wilson continued to work for several years in New York City. Among his many appearances are a duo with bassist Boots Maleson at Joanna's restaurant, 18 East 18th Street, on August 30, 1986 and at Bradley's bar and restaurant in duet with jazz bassist, Peter Washington, March 3, 1989, each of these gigs advertised in the Village Voice, a local New York City newspaper. Wilson's final recording session, simply titled In New York, took place on June 4, 1993 and featured legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb. Jack Wilson died on October 5, 2007. His death, at the Northport Veteran's Administration Medical Center, was caused by complications of diabetes, according to his wife, Sandie Boerum-Wilson, of Sayville, New York.
