Ernie Wilkins

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

1981 Ben Webster Prize

Wilkins has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ernie Wilkins Vej" (eng. Ernie Wilkins Street).

Discography

Ernie Wilkins-Kenny Clarke Septet (Savoy, 1955)

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)

As sideman/arranger

With Count Basie

The Count! (Clef, 1952 [1955])

Basie Jazz (Clef, 1952 [1954])

Dance Session (Clef, 1953)

Dance Session Album#2 (Clef, 1954)

Basie (Clef, 1954)

With Louis Bellson

Let's Call It Swing (Verve, 1957)

Drummer's Holiday (Verve, 1958)

With Maynard Ferguson

Maynard '63 (Roulette, 1962)

With Dizzy Gillespie

Jazz Recital (Norgran, 1955)

World Statesman (Norgran, 1956)

Dizzy in Greece (Verve, 1957)

With Al Grey

Struttin' and Shoutin' (Columbia, 1976 [1983])

With Joe Newman

All I Wanna Do Is Swing (RCA Victor, 1955)

Soft Swingin' Jazz (Coral, 1958)

As composer/arranger

With Ernestine Anderson

My Kinda Swing (Mercury, 1960)

With Count Basie

Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Clef, 1955) with Joe Williams

April in Paris (Verve, 1956)

Metronome All-Stars 1956 (Clef, 1956) with Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Williams

One O'Clock Jump (Verve, 1957) with Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald

Me and You (Pablo, 1983)

With Ray Brown

Ray Brown with the All-Star Big Band (Verve, 1962)

With Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style (EmArcy, 1958)

A Map of Jimmy Cleveland (Mercury, 1959)

With Al Cohn

The Natural Seven (RCA Victor, 1955)

That Old Feeling (RCA Victor, 1955)

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

Trane Whistle (Prestige, 1960)

With Maynard Ferguson

Maynard '62 (Roulette, 1962)

With Dizzy Gillespie

Birks' Works (Verve, 1957)

With Freddie Green

Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)

With Milt Jackson

Big Bags (Riverside, 1962)

With Harry James

Wild About Harry! (Capitol T-874/ST-874, 1957)

The New James (Capitol T-1037/ST-1037, 1958)

Harry's Choice! (Capitol T-1093/ST-1093, 1958)

Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (MGM E-3778/SE-3778, 1959)

Harry James...Today! (MGM E-3848/SE-3848, 1960)

The Spectacular Sound Of Harry James (MGM E-3897/SE-3897, 1961)

The Solid Gold Trumpet Of Harry James (MGM E-4058/SE-4058, 1962)

Harry James Twenty-fifth Anniversary Album (MGM E-4214/SE-4214, 1964)

The King James Version (Sheffield Lab LAB 3, 1976)

Comin' From A Good Place (Sheffield Lab LAB 6, 1977)

With Quincy Jones

The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)

With Sam Jones

Down Home (Riverside, 1962)

With Charles McPherson

Siku Ya Bibi (Day of the Lady) (Mainstream, 1972)

Today's Man (Mainstream, 1973)

With Joe Newman

The Count's Men (Jazztone, 1955)

Salute to Satch (RCA Victor, 1956)

I Feel Like a Newman (Storyville, 1956)

The Midgets (Vik, 1956)

The Happy Cats (Coral, 1957)

Joe Newman with Woodwinds (Roulette, 1958)

With Herb Pomeroy

The Band and I (United Artists, 1958) with Irene Kral

With Sarah Vaughan and the Count Basie Orchestra

Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan (Roulette, 1960)

With Dinah Washington

In the Land of Hi-Fi (EmArcy, 1956)

With Charles Williams

Stickball (Mainstream, 1972)