Teddy Wilson: Solo Teddy Wilson Big Band - Box Set
Teddy Wilson made national news when he went on tour as part of the Benny Goodman Trio, the swing era's first interracial group.Teddy Wilson's style, which evolved from the influence of Earl Hines, Art Tatum and Fats Waller, achieved a neat, quietly swinging symmetry, mostly in single-note lines, that was revolutionary in jazz and influenced countless musicians The box contains 8 CDs, 1 DVD and a 32-page illustrated booklet.The recordings in the 8-disc set include studio sessions, transcriptions, radio broadcasts and live performances spanning the period from 1939 (the date of his big band?s formation) to 1983, three years before his death. Featured are solo, trio, quartet, quintet and sextet as well as big band performances. Guest soloists in the recordings include Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Kai Winding and J.J.Johnson. Ben Webster is soloist on the big band recordings.The DVD is called Boogie Woogie Dream and is a short with Teddy Wilson's Big Band, Lena Horne, Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons. Taken together this career-defining collection provides the ultimate proof that Teddy Wilson was not only a multi-talented composer and bandleader but also a supremely elegant and sophisticated soloist whose smooth style made him more accessible to the general public than almost any other jazz musician of his day.
