Don Wilkerson (c. 1932 – 18 July 1986) was an American

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...

/ R&B

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

born in Moreauville, Louisiana. He was raised in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and it remained his base until he died there in 1986. He is probably best known for his

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

recordings in the 1960s as

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

with

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists." Biography Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...

. Prior to signing with the label, he worked frequently with

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

. Some of his earliest recordings were done in the 1950s as a sideman for

Amos Milburn Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American R&B singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. One commentator noted, "Milburn excelled at good-natured, upbeat romps about booze and partying, imbued with a ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

. He can be heard on several of Charles's hits from the 1950s, including "I Got a Woman," "This Little Girl of Mine," and "Hallelujah, I Love Her So." Remaining in Houston from the early 1970s, he played in the Sonny Franklin Big Band with

Tom Archia Ernest Alvin Archia, Jr. (November 26, 1919 – January 16, 1977) known as Tom Archia, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Early life Archia was born in Groveton, Texas, moving with his family as a child to Rockdale and then Baytown, ...

Arnett Cobb Arnett Cleophus Cobb (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989)
accessed July 2010. was an American tenor saxophonist, somet ...

, and his bandmate from the Ray Charles band, Joe Bridgewater, with guest appearances by

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed "Cleanhead" after an incident in which his hair was ...

and

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He was best-known as a blues music, blues performer, but his music was often eclectic and also touched on genres ...

. Many of the band's arrangements were done by

Cedric Haywood Cedric Haywood (December 31, 1914 – September 9, 1969) was an American jazz pianist. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Haywood played as a teenager in a high school band with Arnett Cobb. His first professional engagement was with Chester Boone ...

.Campbell, Robert L.; Bukowski, Leonard J. and Büttner, Armin "The Tom Archia Discography"
/ref> Wilkerson's work is featured in the 2001

series,''The Complete Blue Note Sessions''.

Discography

Source:

As leader

* '' The Texas Twister'' ( Riverside, 1960) * '' Preach Brother!'' (Blue Note, 1962) * '' Shoutin''' (Blue Note, 1963) * ''

Elder Don ''Elder Don'' is an album by American saxophonist Don Wilkerson recorded in 1962 and released on the Blue Note label.Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, 1963)

As sideman

With

* '' Yes Indeed!'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 1958) * ''Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music'' (ABC-Paramount, 1962) * ''Berlin 1962'' (Pablo, 1996) With others *

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

, ''

Blues 'N' Jazz ''Blues 'N' Jazz'' is the 29th album by B.B. King released in 1983. It was recorded on his 58th birthday, September 16, 1983. Background Writing in the album sleeve-notes, producer Sid Seidenberg says: "Recording his forty-first album on his bi ...

'' (MCA, 1983) *

, ''Chicken Shack Boogie'' (United Artists, 1978)

References

1932 births 1986 deaths American jazz tenor saxophonists American male saxophonists Soul-jazz saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists Blue Note Records artists 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub