American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and music arranger
Ernie Wilkins
New York City, July 6, 1976
Birth name Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. Born (1922-07-20 ) July 20, 1922 St. Louis, MissouriDied June 5, 1999(1999-06-05) (aged 76) Copenhagen, Denmark Genres
Jazz , swing Occupation(s) Musician, arranger, composer Instrument(s) Saxophone
Musical artist
Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. (July 20, 1922
[1] – June 5, 1999) was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with
Count Basie . He also wrote for
Tommy Dorsey ,
Harry James , and
Dizzy Gillespie . He was musical director for albums by
Cannonball Adderley ,
Dinah Washington ,
Oscar Peterson , and
Buddy Rich .
Early career
Wilkins was born in
St. Louis, Missouri . In his early career he played in a military band, before joining
Earl Hines 's last big band. He worked with Count Basie from 1951 to 1955, eventually leaving to work free-lance as a jazz arranger and songwriter. His success declined in the 1960s, but revived after work with
Clark Terry , leading to a tour of Europe.
Final years in Denmark
Eventually Wilkins settled in
Copenhagen , Denmark, where he would live for the rest of his life. There he formed the
Almost Big Band so he could write for a band of his own formation.
The idea was partly inspired by his wife Jenny. Copenhagen had a thriving jazz scene with several promising jazz musicians as well as a well-established community of expatriate American jazz musicians which had formed in the 1950s and now included representatives like
Kenny Drew and
Ed Thigpen who joined the band along with Danish saxophonist
Jesper Thilo . The band released four albums, but after 1991 he became too ill to do much with it.
[2]
Ernie Wilkins died in Copenhagen on June 5, 1999, following a stroke.
[3]
He has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ernie Wilkins Vej" (Ernie Wilkins Street).
[4]
Awards and honors
Discography
Kenny Clarke & Ernie Wilkins (
Savoy , 1955) with
Kenny Clarke
Flutes & Reeds (Savoy, 1955)
Top Brass (Savoy, 1955)
Trumpet Album (Savoy, 1955)
The Drum Suite (
RCA Victor , 1956) with
Manny Albam
Day In, Day Out (1960)
The Big New Band of the '60s (
Fresh Sound , 1960)
Here Comes the Swingin' Mr. Wilkins (Everest, 1960)
Ernie Wilkins & the Almost Big Band (
Storyville , 1980)
Almost Big Band Live (Matrix Music Marketing, 1981)
Live! At the Slukefter Jazz Club (Matrix Music Marketing, 1981)
Montreux (
SteepleChase , 1983)
On the Roll (SteepleChase, 1986)
Kaleidoduke (
Polygram , 1995)
Hard Mother Blues (
P-Vine , 2007)
Kinda Dukish (
Gazell , 2012)
[6]
As sideman/arranger
With
Count Basie
With
Louis Bellson
With
DR Big Band
Suite for Jazz Band (Hep, 1992) – guest conductor, recorded in 1991
With Rob Franken
Fender Rhodes (Sonic Scenery, 2009) – compilations recorded in 1973-76 & 2009
With
Maynard Ferguson
With
Dizzy Gillespie
With
Al Grey
With
Joe Newman
As composer/arranger
With
Ernestine Anderson
With Count Basie
With
Ray Brown
With
Kenny Clarke
With
Jimmy Cleveland
With
Al Cohn
With
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
With
Maynard Ferguson
With
Dizzy Gillespie
With
Freddie Green
With
Milt Jackson
With
Harry James
Wild About Harry! (
Capitol T/ST-874, 1957)
[22]
The New James (Capitol T/ST-1037, 1958)
[23]
Harry's Choice! (Capitol T/ST-1093, 1958)
[24]
Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (
MGM E/SE-3778, 1959)
[25]
Harry James...Today! (MGM E/SE-3848, 1960)
[26]
The Spectacular Sound Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-3897, 1961)
[27]
The Solid Gold Trumpet Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-4058, 1962)
[28]
Harry James Twenty-fifth Anniversary Album (MGM E/SE-4214, 1964)
[29]
The King James Version (Sheffield Lab LAB 3, 1976)
[30]
Comin' From A Good Place (Sheffield Lab LAB 6, 1977)
[31]
With
Quincy Jones
With
Sam Jones
With
Mark Murphy
With
Charles McPherson
With
Joe Newman
With
Herb Pomeroy
With
Rex Stewart and
Cootie Williams
With
Sarah Vaughan and the
Count Basie Orchestra
With
Dinah Washington
With
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
With
Charles Williams
References
^
"Ernie Wilkins Albums" .
^
"About The Almost Big Band" . Erniewilkinsalmostbigband.com . Archived from
the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
^
"Obituary: Ernie Wilkins" . Independent.co.uk . June 8, 1999. Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
^
"Ernie Wilkins Vej, 2450 København" . google.com/maps . Retrieved February 24, 2018 .
^
"The Ben Webster Prizewinners of the year 1977-2018" . The Official Ben Webster Website . The Ben Webster Foundation. Archived from
the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2019 .
^
"Ernie Wilkins | Album Discography | AllMusic" . AllMusic . Retrieved 27 July 2017 .
^
"My Kinda Swing" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 3, 2017 .
^
"Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 1, 2017 .
^
OCLC
37916963
^
"Verve Records Discography: 1956" . Jazzdisco.org. Retrieved November 1, 2017 .
^
"One O'Clock Jump" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 1, 2017 .
^
"Me And You" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 1, 2017 .
^ Myers, Marc.
"Ray Brown + the All-Star Big Band" . All About Jazz / Jazzwax. Retrieved November 5, 2017 .
^
"Cleveland Style" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
^
"A Map of Jimmy Cleveland" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
^
a
b
"The RCA Victor Sessions of Al Cohn - 1955" . Jazz Discog Corner. Retrieved November 12, 2017 .
^
"Trane Whistle" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 18, 2017 .
^
"Slide Hampton Discography" . JazzDiscography.com. Retrieved November 18, 2017 .
^
"Birks Works: The Verve Big-Band Sessions" . Allmusic. Retrieved November 18, 2017 .
^
"Freddie Green Liner Notes: Mr. Rhythm" . freddiegreen.org. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^
"Big Bags" . Allmusic. Retrieved December 12, 2017 .
^
"Wild About Harry" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
^ Myers, Marc.
"Harry James: 1958–'61" . Jazzwax.com. Archived from
the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
^
"Harry's Choice" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
^
"Harry James and his New Swingin' Band - Ernie Wilkins" . Europeana. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
^
"Harry James...Today!" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
^
"The Spectacular Sound of Harry James" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 4, 2017 .
^ Lord, Tom (2013).
The Jazz Discography (CD) (14.0 ed.).
^
OCLC
13849935
^
"The King James Version" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 4, 2017 .
^
"Comin' from a Good Place" . Allmusic. Retrieved October 4, 2017 .
^
"The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones" . Allmusic. Retrieved December 14, 2017 .
^
"Down Home" . Allmusic. Retrieved December 20, 2017 .
^
"Rah!" .
Allmusic . Retrieved February 27, 2011 .
^
"Siku Ya Bibi" . Allmusic. Retrieved January 6, 2018 .
^
"Today's Man" . Allmusic. Retrieved January 6, 2018 .
^
Lord, Tom (1997).
The Jazz Discography, Volume 16 . Lord Music Reference. p. 203.
ISBN
9781881993117 .
^ Cerra, Steven A. (June 16, 2016).
"Joe Newman - A Relaxed and Poised Trumpeter" . Retrieved January 31, 2018 .
^
"I Feel Like a Newman" . Allmusic. Retrieved January 31, 2018 .
^
Lord, Tom (1997).
The Jazz Discography, Volume 16 . Lord Music Reference. p. 204.
ISBN
9781881993117 .
^ Myers, Marc.
"Joe Newman: Happy Cats" . Jazzwax. Retrieved February 6, 2018 .
^
OCLC
32084640
^
"The Band and I" . Allmusic. Retrieved February 6, 2018 .
^
"Count Basie / Sarah Vaughan" . Allmusic. Retrieved February 20, 2018 .
^
OCLC
19405905
^
Don Pullen discography accessed November 13, 2014
International National Academics Artists Other