Teddy Wilson was born in Austin, Texas, on November 24, 1912. Under his parents’ tutelage, his early music education began at the age six with piano. Then, he studied violin, oboe, and clarinet at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Wilson moved to Detroit with his brother, musician Gus Wilson. Teddy began his professional career in 1929 with Speed Webb’s band. Wilson then took over the pianist position of bandleader Milton Senior’s band from Art Tatum in 1930. After touring with the band to Chicago, he decided to stay there and worked with Louis Armstrong from 1931 until 1933. He also understudied Earl Hines in Hines’s Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra before moving to New York in 1933 to perform with Benny Carter.
In 1935, while jamming with Benny Goodman a house party, Teddy Wilson caught the attention of producer John Hammond, who arranged several recording sessions for what became the Benny Goodman Trio, which consisted of Goodman, Wilson, and drummer Gene Krupa.
Hammond was also instrumental in getting Wilson a contract with Brunswick Records, where he notably recorded with Billie Holiday; Holiday recorded 14 selections with Wilson in 1935 alone. From 1939 until the 1942 recording ban, he recorded for Columbia. He also left his residency with Goodman’s band and formed his own fifteen-piece big band in 1939, but it only lasted around a year.
After the demise of his big band, Wilson formed a sextet that performed at Café Society from 1940 to 1944. There, he led a group that included himself, Frankie Newton, Ed Hall, and Billie Holiday. He was dubbed the “Marxist Mozart” by tap dancer and activist Howard “Stretch” Johnson due to his support for left-wing causes. Later, the FBI suspended Wilson’s performing activities alleging that he was involved in Communism.
In 1944, he returned to his sideman position in the Benny Goodman Sextet. In the mid to the late 1940s, Wilson mainly focused on studio recordings, on-screen performances, and radio broadcasts.
In the 1950s, he recorded for Verve Records. He later worked as music director for the Dick Cavett Show.
Teddy Wilson died in New Britain, Connecticut, on July 31, 1986, at the age of 73. – adapted from Wikipedia
See Also:
Teddy Wilson: American Jazz Hero
Teddy Wilson: Profiles in Jazz
