By Jordan Nettles. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (June 10)
Mississippi is often seen as the birthplace of American music. Many Mississippi musicians have achieved international fame, while others remain well-kept and beloved secrets. Regardless, each musician enriches the cultural heritage of the state while leaving a mark on genres like the blues, jazz, country, rock, and more.
The Jazz Pilgrimage of Gerald Wilson (University Press of Mississippi) by Steven Loza features a Shelby native who made immense contributions to jazz. Part biography and part musical analysis, this book explores the robust life and work of a jazz legend who has, up until now, been largely overlooked. The Jazz Pilgrimage of Gerald Wilson is an essential step in recognizing this master musician, arranger, composer, educator, and bandleader.
Gerald Wilson (1918-2014) was born in a region of the United States that is well-known for its music: the Mississippi Delta. Wilson became “very obsessed with jazz” at a young age and embarked on a self-described “jazz pilgrimage.” This artistic journey took him around the world and brought him into the same circle as influential jazz figures like Jimmie Lunceford, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Sources for this book range from liner notes and essays to interviews and a spoken word CD. Loza weaves all of these into a seamless narrative, creating a vivid picture of Wilson’s life. The book includes stories from every stage of Wilson’s career, from his time playing in the Navy Band to his ten albums with Pacific Jazz Records.
The interviews between Loza and Wilson are engaging for any general reader. In the interview chapters, Wilson describes his life in his own words and Loza adds poignant context. Later in the book, Loza offers detailed analyses of some of Wilson’s compositions, which will especially appeal to jazz scholars and students.
In his life and work, Wilson searched for “new ideas” and challenged the boundaries around him. Stylistically, Wilson incorporated musical progressions that no jazz musician had used before. Wilson’s unique sound was partly inspired by his Mexican-American wife and partly inspired by the bullfighters that fascinated him. He blended traditional jazz and Latin American music styles to create a sound that inspired listeners—and musicians—regardless of their race or music genre. One of Wilson’s most well-known pieces, “Viva Tirado,” was eventually recorded by the Latin rock group El Chicano and later adapted into a rap by Kid Frost.
Wilson’s desire for progress was not restricted to his music. He pushed against racial segregation around the country, once telling his band, “Tonight, we’re going to break the color line,” before leading them into a Las Vegas casino in the 1950s. At the conclusion of the book, Jeri Wilson, one of Gerald Wilson’s daughters, describes her father’s pride in being a jazz musician and an African American. His pride and passion for both are impossible to miss in The Jazz Pilgrimage of Gerald Wilson.
Gerald Wilson believed in the power of jazz music, and music in general, to connect people. Wilson’s music certainly brought people together in many different ways. If you are not currently familiar with Gerald Wilson, get ready. This book will likely make you a fan.
Jordan Nettles is a graduate of The University of Southern Mississippi and the Columbia Publishing Course in New York.
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