• Source: Ernie Wilkins

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.




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.
Ernie Wilkins died in Copenhagen on June 5, 1999, following a stroke.
He has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ernie Wilkins Vej" (Ernie Wilkins Street).




Awards and honors


1981 Ben Webster Prize




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)




= As sideman/arranger

=
With Count Basie

Dance Session (Clef, 1953)
Basie Jazz (Clef, 1954) – recorded in 1952
The Count! (Clef, 1955) – recorded in 1952
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 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

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, 1983) – recorded in 1975
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 Kenny Clarke

Telefunken Blues (Savoy, 1955)
With Jimmy Cleveland

Cleveland Style (EmArcy, 1958)
A Map of Jimmy Cleveland (Mercury, 1959)
With Al Cohn

The Natural Seven (RCA Victor LPM 1116, 1955)
That Old Feeling (RCA Victor LPM 1207, 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/ST-874, 1957)
The New James (Capitol T/ST-1037, 1958)
Harry's Choice! (Capitol T/ST-1093, 1958)
Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (MGM E/SE-3778, 1959)
Harry James...Today! (MGM E/SE-3848, 1960)
The Spectacular Sound Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-3897, 1961)
The Solid Gold Trumpet Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-4058, 1962)
Harry James Twenty-fifth Anniversary Album (MGM E/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 Mark Murphy

Rah (Riverside, 1961)
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 Rex Stewart and Cootie Williams

The Big Challenge (Jazztone, 1957)
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 Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

Clean Head's Back in Town (Bethlehem, 1957)
With Charles Williams

Stickball (Mainstream, 1972)




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Los Angeles Clippers
• Isle of Man TT 1949
• Skuad Kejuaraan Eropa UEFA 1980
• Penghargaan Grammy ke-52
• Daftar tokoh Inggris
• Jeff Gordon
• Ernie Wilkins
• With a Song in My Heart (Stevie Wonder album)
• The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones
• Sarah Vaughan (1955 album)
• In the Land of Hi-Fi (Sarah Vaughan album)
• Ernie
• Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass
• The Genius of Ray Charles
• Trane Whistle
• George Barrow (musician)