GRAMMY-nominated jazz musician Gerald Wilson died Sept. 8 after contracting pneumonia. He was 96. A trumpeter, arranger, bandleader, composer, and educator, Wilson began taking piano lessons at age 6 with his schoolteacher mother in his hometown of Shelby, Miss. He picked up trumpet at age 11 and his family later moved to Detroit where he attended high school and subsequently performed with the Jimmie Lunceford band from 1939–1942. After relocating to Los Angeles, Wilson performed with the likes of Les Hite, Benny Carter and Willie Smith before forming his first big band in 1944, which featured musicians such as Melba Liston and Snooky Young. Wilson disbanded his group three years later and landed a stint touring with jazz greats Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. Wilson went on to garner seven GRAMMY nominations throughout his career, including two with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, with whom he earned his most recent GRAMMY nomination for 2011 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for Legacy. Aside from recording, Wilson arranged songs for artists such as Bobby Darin, Ray Charles and the Duke Ellington band, and wrote music for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also taught jazz history at California State University, Northridge and the University of California, Los Angeles, and hosted his own L.A. radio program on KBCA-FM from 1969–1976. Wilson was honored with a President's Merit Award and The Recording Academy's GRAMMY Salute To Jazz event in 2004. That same year Wilson's life story was preserved on videotape via the GRAMMY Foundation's Living Histories program.
