Name Ernie Wilkins | Role Musical Artist | |
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Died June 5, 1999, Copenhagen, Denmark Albums Day In Day Out (Digitally Remastered) Music group Almost Big Band (1980 – 1991) Similar People Joe Newman, Marshal Royal, Osie Johnson, Manny Albam, Frank Wess | ||
Savoy 1519 big maybelle with ernie wilkins orc jim
Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. (July 20, 1922 – 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.
Contents
- Savoy 1519 big maybelle with ernie wilkins orc jim
- Dinah washington tain t nobody s business if i do feat ernie wilkins and his orchestra
- Early career
- Final years in Denmark
- Awards and honors
- Discography
- As sidemanarranger
- As composerarranger
- Dizzy gillespie and ernie wilkins almost big band from 1983 in the tivoli gardens
- Ernie wilkins top brass and trumpets all out
- References
Dinah washington tain t nobody s business if i do feat ernie wilkins and his orchestra
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. He died in Copenhagen.
Wilkins was responsible for orchestral arrangements on 1972's self-titled album by Alice Clark, on Mainstream Records, a highly sought-after collectible today.
Ernie Wilkins died on June 5, 1999 of a stroke.
Awards and honors
Wilkins has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ernie Wilkins Vej" (eng. Ernie Wilkins Street).
Discography
As sideman/arranger
With Count Basie
With Louis Bellson
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 Jimmy Cleveland
With Al Cohn
With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
With Maynard Ferguson
With Dizzy Gillespie
With Freddie Green
With Milt Jackson
With Harry James
With Quincy Jones
With Sam Jones
With Charles McPherson
With Joe Newman
With Herb Pomeroy
With Sarah Vaughan and the Count Basie Orchestra
With Dinah Washington
With Charles Williams