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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWILKERSON, Edward Jr.(b 1953, Terre Haute IN) Reeds, composer, bandleader. Grew up in the voluntarily integrated Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights in a professional-class African-American family; attended the University of Chicago and became a younger member of the AACM, influenced by Muhal Richard Abrams and Henry Threadgill, bringing the flavour of the jump band to 'free' music. He played on albums with the trio Ethnic Heritage Ensemble led by percussionist Kahil El'Zabar (Three Gentlemen From Chikago on Moers included Wilkerson's 'A Serious Pun') and led his own groups in Chicago. He forsook his horns for the conductor's role on the self-produced Birth Of A Notion '86 on Sessoms by the large group Shadow Vignettes, full of theatre and send-up, using orchestral effects like stage props; he described the string writing behind Rita Warford's purposely straight vocals (and purposely banal lyrics) as 'Disneyland'. The octet 8 Bold Souls made its eponymous album debut the next year, with Wilkerson and Mwata Bowden playing seven reeds between them, Robert Griffin Jr and Isaiah S. Jackson Jr on various brass, Dushun Mosley on percussion and copious bass lines from Naomi Millender on cello, Richard Jess Brown Jr on bass and Aaron Dodd on tuba. Millender's solo on 'Shining Waters' was especially beautiful. There was another 8 Bold Souls album '92 followed by the octet's Ant Farm '94, both on Arabesque CDs, and the Ed Wilkerson Quartet's Light On The Path '94 on sound aspects (with Wilkerson, reeds; Rod McGatha, trumpet; Harrison Bankhead, bass; Reggie Nicholson, drums). The jokes on Birth Of A Notion were mostly beyond the critics, but the spirit of the AACM shines through Wilkerson's work; he is a composer/ arranger/ artistic organizer in the mould of Ellington or Threadgill, celebrating the history of the music without any sense of relying on period effects. |