Joe Lee Wilson (December 22, 1935 – July 17, 2011) 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 ...

singer from

Bristow, Oklahoma Bristow is a city in Creek County, Oklahoma, Creek County, Oklahoma, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census was 4,248, up slightly from the population of 4,222 reported at the 2010 United States Census, 20 ...

, who lived in Europe since 1977.

Biography

Part African-American and part Creek Native American, John Fordham
"Joe Lee Wilson obituary: Eloquent jazz vocalist who drew on the raw passion of the blues"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', July 18, 2011. Wilson was born in Bristow, Oklahoma, to farming parents Stella and Ellis Wilson. As his band's name, Joy of Jazz, suggests, Wilson's

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

personified the life-affirming nature of

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. Seeing

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

perform in 1951 began his interest in a music-industry career. Moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

at the age of 15, he went to Los Angeles High School, where he majored in music and sang in an a cappella choir. Graduating with honors in 1954, he won a scholarship to the

Los Angeles Conservatory of Music LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

, where he studied opera, leaving after a year and then attending Los Angeles Junior College. He began singing with local bands in 1958 and toured the West Coast, where he sat in with

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

, and down to Mexico. Relocating to New York in 1962, he worked with

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note Records, Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his la ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

, and

Jackie McLean John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their death. Bio ...

. During the 1970s, Wilson operated a jazz performance loft in New York's

NoHo NoHo, short for "North of Houston Street, Houston Street" (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by Mercer Street (Manhattan), Mercer Street to the west, the Bowery ...

district known as the Ladies' Fort at 2 Bond Street. His regular band, Joe Lee Wilson Plus 5, featured the

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 ...

Monty Waters Monville Charles Waters (April 14, 1938 – December 23, 2008), known as Monty Waters, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist and singer. Early life Monville Charles Waters was born in Modesto, California. He studied at Modesto High School ...

(from

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

) and for several years the Japanese guitarist Ryo Kawasaki, before the latter left to lead his own group. Archie Shepp and Eddie Jefferson were frequent collaborators at these sessions. He also sang with

Eddie Jefferson Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979) was an American jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims ...

, and

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and occasional singer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention ...

. Wilson had a minor radio hit from a live radio recording he did on a radio program hosted by Sharif Abdus-Salaam (né Ed Michael) at

WKCR-FM WKCR-FM (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fi ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, on July 16, 1972. The live shot was released as an album, ''Livin' High Off Nickels & Dimes,'' on the short-lived

Oblivion Records Oblivion Records is an independent American record label that focuses on under recorded blues and jazz musicians. The company was originally based in Huntington, New York and the WKCR-FM studios at Columbia University in New York City, with a p ...

in New York. Wilson's rendition of Norman Mapp's "Jazz Ain't Nothing But Soul" was a radio hit on New York jazz radio in 1975.Fred Seibert

''Oblivion Records Tumblr'', 2006-2015. In 1977 he and his English wife Jill Christopher moved to Europe. While based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and the United Kingdom (for a time living in the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

flat of

Val Wilmer Valerie Sybil Wilmer (born 7 December 1941) is a British photographer and writer specialising in jazz, gospel, blues, and British African-Caribbean music and culture. Her notable books include ''Jazz People'' (1970) and ''As Serious As Your Life ...

, before settling in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

), he recorded regularly with the American pianist

Kirk Lightsey Kirkland "Kirk" Lightsey (born 15 February 1937), is an American jazz pianist. Biography Lightsey had piano instruction from the age of five and studied piano and clarinet through high school. After serving in the army, Lightsey worked in Detr ...

, including the Candid recording ''Feelin' Good.'' One of Wilson's last albums was an Italian recording with Riccardo Arrighini and Gianni Basso, ''Ballads for Trane'' (Philology W707.2). Wilson was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in November 2010, where he gave his last public performance. Having had heart surgery in 2009, he died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

at his Brighton home in 2011, aged 75. Wilson is the subject of a documentary film, ''Around Joe Lee'', by Yves Breux and Brad Scott."Around Joe Lee - documentary on Joe Lee Wilson"
YouTube.

Discography

As leader

* ''The Great City'' (Powertree, 1964) * ''Livin' High Off Nickels and Dimes'' (Oblivion, 1974) * ''What Would It Be Without You'' (

Survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

, 1975) * ''Shout for Trane'' (Trio/Whynot, 1976) * ''Secrets from the Sun'' (Inner City, 1977) * ''Without a Song'' (Inner City, 1978) * ''The Shadow'' (Cheetah, 1990) * ''Feelin' Good!'' (Big City, 2001) * ''Come and See'' with Jimmy Ponder (Explore, 2007)

As sideman

With

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...

* '' Inward Fire'' (Muse, 1978) With

Mtume Mtume (pronounced ''em-tu-may'') was an American funk and soul group that rose to prominence during the early 1980s and had several R&B hits during its career. Its founder, former percussionist James Mtume, previously played and toured with Mil ...

* '' Alkebu-Lan - The Land of the Blacks'' (1972) With

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

* '' Things Have Got to Change'' (1971) * '' Attica Blues'' (1972) * ''

The Cry of My People ''The Cry of My People'' is an album by avant-garde jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp released in 1972 on the Impulse! label. The album features performances by Shepp with gospel singers, big bands, quintets, sextets, and chamber orchestras. The Al ...

'' (1972) * ''A Touch of the Blues'' (

Fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...

, 1977)

References

External links

* Elizabeth Mistry
"Joe Lee Wilson: Celebrated jazz singer who had his roots in the blues"
''The Independent'', September 3, 2011
Obituary
in ''The Guardian'', July 18, 2011
Joe Lee Wilson
at Discogs
Joe Lee Wilson's last public performance
at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in November 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Joe Lee 1935 births 2011 deaths People from Bristow, Oklahoma American blues singers American male singers American jazz singers Jazz musicians from Oklahoma American male jazz musicians Survival Records artists