Joan Wildman

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Joan Wildman (born January 1, 1938 ; † April 8, 2020 ) was an American musician ( piano , synthesizer , composition ) and university teacher who was active in both jazz and classical music, which is reflected in her "constantly reflected a growing interest in avant-garde and electronic music. "

Live and act

Born to ranchers in the plains of Nebraska , Wildman studied jazz and classical music at the University of Minnesota , Berklee College of Music, and the University of Oregon in the late 1950s . She taught at Central Michigan University and the University of Maine before joining the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1977 , where she built the university's jazz program until she retired in 2002. She also published research on music theory and music history, including a 1979 article in the Journal of Jazz Studies entitled "The Role of the Left Hand in the Development of the Jazz Piano ". She made a point of connecting Madison's wider music community with the academic music world, playing frequently in local clubs, and working with musicians who were not necessarily affiliated with the university. In 1985, Wildman founded the Madison Music Collective , a local not-for-profit organization that continues to organize shows by local and touring jazz artists to this day.

While she was teaching at Central Michigan University in 1974, Wildman was contacted a few hours before the concert by Mercer Ellington to fill in for his ailing father Duke Ellington . Despite the audience's disappointment in not hearing Duke play, her performance was greeted with a standing ovation. Around 1985 she recorded a first album in trio, Orphan Folk Music . In 1987 she appeared at the University of Wisconsin with compositions by Roscoe Mitchell , included on Mitchell's album Four Compositions . further recordings were made during this time with the Madison Music Collective .

Wildman incorporated non-traditional instruments into her work. For example, she played a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, heard in "Applesauce" from Wildman's 1992 album Inside Out ; in doing so, she “renounces the ethereal shimmer for which this synthesizer is known. Instead, Wildman dares to synthesize itself to produce sounds as dynamic and cleverly dissonant as their actual playing, ”wrote Scott Gordon in his obituary. In a 1994 interview for a UW-Madison Oral History project, Wildman discussed her approach to fusing jazz with electronic music, explaining that almost every time she played it live, she programmed new sounds into her synthesizer. She rejected the so-called "new conservatism" in jazz by musicians like Wynton Marsalis and welcomed the challenges and possibilities of electronic elements.

Wildman's staff included saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell, who also taught at UW-Madison. The New York Times noted in 1999 that the two often met in the mornings “to run through Bach's flute sonatas”. During a June 2018 concert at Trinity Lutheran Church , Wildman performed on the harpsichord with Mitchell. Wildman also recorded with Mitchell, including on his 1992 album Four Compositions and Numbers 2011. She has worked with other jazz musicians, including bassist and UW Madison professor Richard Davis and trumpeter Doc DeHaven . In her final years she performed occasionally, including solo concerts and improvisational sets with saxophonist Hanah Jon Taylor. Wildman died on April 8, 2020 at the age of 82 of complications from cancer.

In the field of jazz, she was involved in eight recording sessions between 1985 and 2009, according to Tom Lord .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary
  2. ↑ a b c d e Scott Gordon: Joan Wildman, pianist and restless musical explorer, has died. Tone Mdison, April 10, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed April 22, 2020)
personal data
SURNAME Wildman, Joan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American musician (piano) and university teacher
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1938
DATE OF DEATH April 8, 2020