Edward Wilkerson

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Edward "Ed" Wilkerson Jr. (born July 27, 1953 in Terre Haute , Indiana ) is an American jazz musician (tenor saxophone, alto clarinet, flute, piano and percussion), band leader and music teacher.

Live and act

Edward Wilkerson began his musical career in the Chicago jazz scene and was soon a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), in whose music school he later taught composition; For a while he was also chairman of the AACM.

As early as the mid-1970s, Wilkerson was working with musicians from the AACM collective, such as the percussionist Kahil El'Zabar ; then became a founding member of Zabars Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and remained in the group until 1997 when he was replaced by Ernest Dawkins . Wilkerson worked on the first albums such as Three Gentlemen From Chicago (Moers Records, 1980), Hang Tuff (Open Minds) and Dance With the Ancestors (Chameleon) with.

Wilkerson then also led his own projects, such as the Shadow Vignettes formation, founded in 1979 , in which a total of 25 musicians worked (including Reggie Nicholson , Ameen Muhammad and Ernest Dawkins) and which included dance, poetry and the visual arts. The music of the Shadow Vignettes borrowed from the big band works of Muhal Richard Abrams , Duke Ellington , Count Basie and Sun Ra . The Shadow Vignettes recorded an album ( Birth of a Notion ) which was released on Sessoms Records in 1985 .

In January 1985, Wilkerson founded his ensemble 8 Bold Souls , an octet with which he performed regularly at concerts in Chicago and which eventually became his working band . He performed in Moers in 1986 with the Clarinet Choir , which also included JD Parran and Mwata Bowden .

Wilkerson worked outside the formations 8 Bold Souls , the Shadow Vignettes and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with the AACM Big Band , with Roscoe Mitchell , Douglas Ewart , The Temptations , Chico Freeman , Geri Allen , the Lyric Opera of Chicago , Muhal Richard Abrams, Aretha Franklin and George Lewis .

Wilkerson is currently working with the Frequency formation with Nicole Mitchell , Harrison Bankhead and Avreeayl Ra . and play a mixture of free jazz, African influences and concrete noises.

Wilkerson received honors from the Illinois Arts Council , the National Endowment for the Arts , the Meet the Composer program, and the Community Arts Assistance Program .

Discographic notes

Albums under your own name

  • Shadow Vignettes - Birth of a Notion (Sessom, 1984)
  • 8 Bold Souls: Sideshow (Arabesque, 1991)
  • Light on the Path ( sound aspects , 1994), with Rod McGaha
  • 8 Bold Souls: Antfarm (Arabesque, 1994)
  • Frequency ( Thrill Jockey )

As a sideman

  • Zahir El'Zabar: Anchestral Song (Silkheart, 1987)
  • Zahir El'Zabar: 21st Century Union March (Silkheart, 1995)

swell

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wilkerson, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wilkerson, Edward Junior (full name); Wilkerson, Ed junior (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (tenor saxophone, alto clarinet, flute, piano and percussion), band leader and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH July 27, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Terre Haute , Indiana