Charles Dee Wilson (July 31, 1948 – October 16, 2018) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller tha ...

. Born in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan area, Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer County, Tex ...

, Wilson began playing saxophone at age 11, and led his own trio while still in high school. He attended

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

and spent much of his career in various

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

ensembles. He was with

Jerry Gray Jerry Don Gray (born December 16, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant head coach/defense for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). Gray played college football for the Texas Longhorns, ...

at the Fairmont Hotel in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

around 1972, and following the leader's death in 1976, he played with

Buddy Rich Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...

from 1977 to 1980. He did much studio work in New York City in the 1980s, on

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

in addition to saxophone. He played with

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

in 1980–81,

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...

from 1981 to 1989,

Bob Wilber Robert Sage Wilber (March 15, 1928 – August 4, 2019) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and band leader. Although his scope covers a wide range of jazz, Wilber was a dedicated advocate of classic styles, working throughout his caree ...

(1983),

Loren Schoenberg Loren Schoenberg (born July 23, 1958) is a tenor saxophonist, conductor, educator, and jazz historian. He has won two Grammy Awards for Best Album Notes. He is the former executive director and currently senior scholar of the National Jazz Museum ...

(1984),

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

's last ensemble (1985–86),

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

(1986–90), and

Walt Levinsky Walt Levinsky (April 18, 1929 – December 14, 1999) was an American big band and orchestral player, composer, arranger, and bandleader. While many of his big band assignments were as lead alto sax player, his favorite instrument was the clarin ...

. He was with

Howard Alden Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps. Early life Ho ...

and Dan Barrett's quintet from 1985 to 1991. He led his own group, Chuck Wilson and Friends, from 1996, which included

Murray Wall Murray James Wall (September 28, 1945 - July 18, 2022) was an Australian jazz double bassist. Born in Melbourne, Wall was an autodidact on double bass, having learned by playing along with records by Oscar Pettiford. He began playing profession ...

, Alden, and

Joel Helleny Joel Edward Helleny (born October 23, 1956, Paris, Texas d. June 20, 2009, Herrin, Illinois) was an American jazz trombonist. Helleny learned piano from his mother as a child but settled on trombone by age seven. Although born in Texas he moved t ...

as sidemen. Wilson died on October 16, 2018, at the age of 70 in New York City.

Discography

As leader

* ''Echo of Spring'' (Arbors, 2010)

As sideman

With

& Dan Barrett * ''Swing Street'' (Concord Jazz, 1988) * ''The ABQ Salutes Buck Clayton'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''Live in '95'' (Arbors, 2004) With

Bob Belden James Robert Belden (October 31, 1956 – May 20, 2015) was an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer. As a composer he may be best known for his Grammy Award winning orchestral jazz recording, ''Black Dahlia'' (2001) ...

* ''Straight to My Heart'' (Blue Note, 1991) * ''Puccini's Turandot'' (Blue Note, 1993) * ''When Doves Cry'' (Metro Blue, 1994) * ''La Cigale'' (Sunnyside, 1998) With

* ''Class of '78'' (Century, 1977) * ''Europe 77'' (Magic 1993) * ''Wham!'' (Label M, 2000) * ''No Funny Hats'' (Lightyear, 2004) * ''Time Out'' (Lightyear, 2007) * ''Birdland'' (Lightyear, 2015) With

* ''Time Waits for No One'' (Musicmasters, 1987) * ''Solid Ground'' (Musicmasters, 1988) * ''Just a-Settin' and a-Rockin'' ' (Musicmasters, 1990) With

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

* ''Swing That Music'' (Telarc, 1993) * ''Songs of New York'' (Telarc, 1995) * ''How's Your Romance?'' (Telarc, 1999) With others * Dan Barrett, ''Strictly Instrumental'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) * Dan Barrett, ''Moon Song'' (Arbors, 1998) * John Barry, ''The Cotton Club'' (Geffen, 1984) *

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Bra ...

, ''Variety Is the Spice of Braff'' (Arbors, 2002) *

Canadian Brass The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet ...

, ''Swingtime!'' (RCA Victor, 1995) *

, ''A Swingin' Dream'' (Stash, 1989) *

Joey DeFrancesco Joey DeFrancesco (April 10, 1971August 25, 2022) was an American jazz organist, trumpeter, saxophonist, and occasional singer. He released more than 30 albums under his own name, and recorded extensively as a sideman with such leading jazz perfo ...

, ''

Where Were You? ''Where Were You?'' is the second album led by jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco which was released on the Columbia label in 1990.Steve Forbert Samuel Stephen Forbert (born December 13, 1954) is an American pop/folk singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary (chart ...

, ''Lost'' (Nemperor, 1982) *

Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American singer and actress. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acti ...

, ''How Glory Goes'' (Nonesuch, 2000) *

Geoff Muldaur Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943) is an American singer, guitarist and composer, who was a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Career Having established a reputation with the Kweskin J ...

, ''Private Astronomy'' (Edge Music 2003) *

John Pizzarelli John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. (born April 6, 1960) is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Ros ...

, ''Our Love Is Here to Stay'' (RCA/BMG, 1997) *

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama), dark sunglasses, and black tie, he was ...

, ''Red to Blue'' (August 1985) * Leon Redbone, ''Sugar'' (Private Music, 1990) *

Randy Sandke Jay Randall Sandke (born May 5, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz trumpeter and guitarist. While a student at Indiana University in 1968, he and Michael Brecker started a jazz-rock band (Mrs. Seamon's Sound Band) that performed at the Notre D ...

, ''Calling All Cats'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) * Randy Sandke, ''The Re-discovered Louis and Bix'' (Nagel Heyer, 2000) *

Don Sebesky Donald John Sebesky (December 10, 1937 – April 29, 2023) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz trombonist. He was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of other instruments: keyboards, electric piano, organ, accord ...

, ''I Remember Bill'' (RCA Victor, 1998) * Don Sebesky, ''Joyful Noise'' (RCA Victor, 1999) *

Andy Stein Andy Stein is an American saxophone and violin player. He is a member of The Guys All-Star Shoe Band on the radio show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and the movie. He was a founding member of the country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Pla ...

, ''Goin' Places'' (Stomp Off, 1987) *

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

& Buddy Rich, ''Together Again for the First Time'' (Gryphon, 1978) * Mel Torme &

, ''The Classic Concert Live'' (Concord Jazz, 2005) * Warren Vache, ''Swingtime!'' (Nagel Heyer, 2000) *

, ''Bufadora Blow-up'' (Arbors, 1997)

References

;Footnotes ;General references *Gary W. Kennedy, "Chuck Wilson". '' Grove Jazz'', 2nd edition, 2004. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Chuck 1948 births 2018 deaths American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists University of North Texas College of Music alumni Jazz musicians from Texas American male jazz musicians People from Wichita Falls, Texas 20th-century American saxophonists