In 1935, clarinetist Benny Goodman asked pianist Teddy Wilson to join his newly formed trio with drummer Gene Krupa. The move came at Columbia producer John Hammond's urging and it made Wilson one of the first African-American musicians to break the performance segregation barrier in the 1930s. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton would up the ante when he joined the group a year later followed by guitarist Charlie Christian in 1939.
But as Mosaic Records' new box, Classic Brunswick & Columbia Teddy Wilson Sessions 1934-1942 shows, Wilson is known for breaking another barrier. He was the Swing Era's bridge between the syncopated stride players of the late 1920s and early '30s and the progressive conversational pianists of the late 1940s and beyond. Virtually all post-war keyboard players, from Erroll Garner and Bud Powell to Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans, were students of Wilson's elegance and accompanist approach.
The seven-CD box features only the Wilson-led Brunswick and Columbia sessions, which means there are no Benny Goodman Trio sides here. There also are zero Wilson orchestral leadership sessions backing singer Billie Holiday. The box's producer notes say that they all have been issued widely on other sets and there wasn't much point including them given the already-sizable number of CDs in this box. Which is completely understandable, even if it leaves the Wilson evolution during this period with gaps.
What we do have is a carefully chosen 169 tracks featuring Wilson in a wide range of studio settings, including dazzling solo recordings, dates where Goodman, Ben Webster, Harry James, Roy Eldridge and other jazz greats were members of his groups, and vocal dates with Helen Ward, Midge Williams, Nan Wynn, Lena Horne and others. So while you shouldn't expect this box to deliver the complete Wilson output during this nine-year period, you do wind up with a splendid trail that provides exquisite examples of Wilson's evolution as a solo pianist and accompanist.
As I noted in my Wall Street Journal review that went up online on Friday (go here), my favorite tracks are the solo recordings Wilson made for Columbia at engineer Bill Savory's (above) Chicago studio in April 1941. We hear multiple takes of I Know That You Know, Love Me or Leave Me, Them There Eyes, China Boy (seven takes), I Surrender Dear (nine takes), Body and Soul, and I Can't Get Started. What's fascinating about these was Wilson's high standards for himself. Even though to the naked ear each take sounds like a masterpiece, Wilson wasn't happy with introductions or thought he could do better. And what sounds effortless clearly wasn't effortless at all when it came to satisfying his goals for the finished product. Listening to this Savory session is like looking at drafts for the Mona Lisa. Art in Wilson's hands included the process of inching toward perfection.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Classic Brunswick & Columbia Teddy Wilson Sessions 1934-1942 (Mosaic Records) here.
JazzWax clip: Here's the master of I Surrender Dear from April 11, 1941...
