John
Wilson, who played trumpet with some of jazz's
legendary performers for 25 years then brought
his considerable talent and credentials to Duquesne's
Mary Pappert School of Music in 1972, will be
honored this month as he finishes his last semester
at the university.
A Musical Tribute to Dr. John Wilson
will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 21
in the Duquesne Union Ballroom. The celebration
features dinner and performances by The Chuck
Spatafore Little Big Band; Joe Negri; vocalist
Maureen Budway; pianist David Budway; tenor saxophonists
Enrique "Rick" Torcaso, Eric DeFade
and Don Aliquo, Jr.; brothers guitarist Marty
and trombonist Jay Ashby; and The John Wilson
Big Band. The Duquesne University Jazz Ensemble
will perform a retrospective of Wilson's
arrangements, including a piece composed by Mike
Tomaro (associate professor and chair of Duquesne's
jazz studies program) when he was Wilson's
student in 1983.
Wilson, an adjunct professor of music and director
of the Duquesne University Jazz Ensembles, developed
a jazz studies curriculum for the university in
1975—the first ever in Pennsylvania. Wilson
served as director of jazz studies at Duquesne
through 1997.
"His arrangements and compositions are
some of the most beautiful things you'd
ever want to hear," said WDUQ-FM's
Tony Mowod, who will serve as the evening's
master of ceremonies. "He has influenced
many musicians and many students."
Prior to joining Duquesne, Wilson worked for
25 years in New York City in a successful career
that included all aspects of performance—large
and small jazz ensembles, television, radio, movies,
recordings and Broadway theatre. He performed
with the Benny Goodman and Sauter-Finnegan Orchestras,
and recorded with those groups as well as with
Gerry Mulligan, Bobby Brookmeyer, Phil Woods and
Jimmy Raney. He earned arranging credits with
Nancy Wilson, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Orchestra,
John Scofield and Tony Williams. In addition,
Wilson wrote the score Indigo in Motion, a tribute
to Billy Strayhorn, which was performed by the
Pittsburgh Ballet in 2000 and 2002.
Wilson also contributed arrangements for the
Grammy-nominated A Nancy Wilson Christmas,
and his arrangement Day In, Day Out for
Wilson is featured on the current National Endowment
for the Arts tribute to jazz masters. Currently,
he's writing a textbook on jazz arranging and
orchestration with Tomaro.
Tickets to A Musical Tribute to Dr. John
Wilson are $25. For more information, call
800.456.8338. |
