{"id":10104,"date":"2016-02-03T05:30:28","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T05:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=10104"},"modified":"2016-02-03T12:50:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T12:50:03","slug":"russ-wilson-jazz-history-repeats-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/02\/03\/russ-wilson-jazz-history-repeats-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Russ Wilson: (Jazz) History Repeats Itself"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"russ_wilson01\"<\/p>\n

On February 12, 1924, jazz bandleader Paul Whiteman<\/b> staged a concert at New York City’s famed Aeolian Hall. That event, billed as An Experiment in Modern Music<\/i>, featured George Gershwin<\/b>‘s premiere performance of \u201cRhapsody in Blue.\u201d Whiteman (sometimes called the King of Jazz) would go on to stage many more concerts in the Experiment<\/i> series, and the shows would become an important part of jazz history in the United States. Now in 2016, Asheville, North Carolina’s Godfather of Jazz, Russ Wilson<\/b> is mounting a similar concert series that he calls Russ Wilson’s History of Jazz<\/i>. The year-long Sunday evening series at ISIS Restaurant & Music Hall kicked off with a January 3 set, and will continue every month through the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Pausing for a moment between three back-to-back gigs within the space of 24 hours, Wilson explains the idea behind the concert series. \u201cAlmost every style of jazz is being played\u201d here in Asheville, he observes. He goes on to list some of the many jazz ensembles currently playing in and around town. This city of under 100,000 people is host to no less than three larger-scale jazz groups, he says. \u201cThere’s my orchestra, there’s the Asheville Jazz Orchestra<\/b>, there’s Steve Alford’s Rational Discourse<\/b>. That’s three fabulous big bands just in Asheville!\u201d Wilson is also putting together yet another big band, the Euphonic Ragtime Orchestra<\/b>, specifically for the series’ February 7 show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I thought, okay,\u201d Wilson says, \u201csince we’ve got all these styles of jazz being played, why don’t we take that and feature all the local talent? Let’s show the people that we can do this chronological history of jazz.\u201d He notes that the twelve-plus concerts in this 2016 History of Jazz<\/i> series will exclusively feature WNC musicians. \u201cThere are no national acts, no ‘headline’ names\u201d on the bill, he says. Taken as a whole, the series will guide audiences through the developments in jazz, from pre-jazz gospel vocal to Dixieland to swing, bop, and many other styles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is such a cool, eclectic, vibrant jazz scene going on\u201d in Asheville, Wilson says. \u201cYou would expect something like this, maybe, in Charlotte. But it’s not happening there; it’s happening here<\/i>.\u201d He notes that out-of-town visitors at his shows tell him that \u201cthere’s not a jazz scene like this unless you go to somewhere like New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"russ_wilson03\"<\/p>\n

Wilson put the word out about his plans, and was met by enthusiastic buy-in from Asheville’s community of jazz musicians. He even worked the series schedule around so that busy players \u2013 who often book engagements far in advance \u2013 could be accommodated. \u201cWe may add a couple more dates,\u201d he says, \u201cbut for the most part, the calendar is set.\u201d The series’ website (www.rwhoj.com<\/a>) lists the details of the series, and will also offer links to other jazz events at Barley’s Taproom, Grove Park Inn, and other local venues.<\/p>\n

While most of the shows in Russ Wilson’s History of Jazz<\/i> will take place at ISIS (variously upstairs and downstairs, depending on the size of the act), plans are underway for a special November 12 show at the Diana Wortham Theatre, titled \u201cRuss Wilson’s Experiment in Modern Music.\u201d Taking the baton from Whiteman’s concerts of nearly a century ago, this show will feature the premieres of five orchestral jazz works, commissioned specially for the event. Local composers Richard Shulman<\/b>, Michael Jefry Stevens<\/b>, Henry Westmoreland<\/b> (aka<\/i> Hank West<\/b>), Alan Theisen<\/b>, and Ben Hovey<\/b> will each contribute new works. Connecting back to the 1924 event, the show will also feature a performance of \u201cRhapsody in Blue.\u201d The Diana Wortham event is contingent on acquiring funding. \u201cI’m talking to grant writers, and I may do a crowd funding campaign, but I would love to find a sponsor,\u201d Wilson says.<\/p>\n

The longtime Asheville resident (and Hendersonville native) feels that the time is right \u2013 both for himself and Asheville \u2013 for a concert series such as this. \u201cI’ve gotten to the point of running my own business, Wilson Music Company, and running twelve bands of my own. This [concert series] is the biggest thing I’ve tackled so far. And I’m ready. And if I don’t do it, who will?\u201d Wilson believes that Asheville \u201calways has been a kind of bohemian community, one full of music lovers.\u201d He notes that while other cities have had their own music scenes, \u201cright now it’s Asheville’s turn. And I think it’s going to be so for quite awhile.\u201d He quotes his friend and musical associate Hank Bones<\/b>: \u201cWe’re in the golden age of music gigs here in Asheville,\u201d but takes mild issue with that assertion. \u201cI don’t think we’ve even seen [that golden age] yet,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Wilson’s own musical history is long and varied. The 49-year-old says, \u201cI’ve got 4000 records in my collection at home: 33’s 45’s, 78’s, Edison cylinders,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cVintage jazz has been in my blood all my life, and my father is to blame for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was not a musician,\u201d Wilson continues. \u201cHe worked for American Enka over here in Candler [for years the largest rayon manufacturer in the USA, located just outside Asheville NC]. He was a troubleshooter, an electrician. He worked on all those big machines. He was a voracious reader, and got Reader’s Digest<\/i> in the mail every month for years. And he bought every one of their cussed box sets!\u201d Wilson notes that long before Time-Life started doing it, Reader’s Digest<\/i> put together compilation box sets of music on vinyl records.<\/p>\n

\"russ_wilson_records\"<\/p>\n

There were two of those sets in the elder Wilson’s home record collection that would have a major influence upon young Russ. \u201cOne was called In the Groove with the Kings of Swing<\/i>, and the other was The Great Band Era<\/i>.\u201d Wilson chuckles, \u201cI grew up a child of the 80s. But when everybody else was listening to DEVO<\/b>, early Madonna<\/b>, and Blondie<\/b>, I was listening to Benny Goodman<\/b>, Fats Waller<\/b>, Paul Whiteman…all that stuff. That’s what I cut my teeth on.\u201d And he believes that his lifetime of immersion into the American musical form positions him ideally to mount Russ Wilson’s History of Jazz<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to do what I love, and I get paid for it!\u201d he smiles. \u201cBefore I went on the road, I had started the Wilson Music Company, but I never got it fully off the ground. I toured with bands for years. I toured with [bluesman] Jimmy Thackery<\/b> for two and a half years; that was my last tour of duty, and ended November 2010. When I came off the road, I hit the ground running [locally], and I haven’t stopped since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"russ_wilson02\"<\/p>\n

Wilson’s concert series is an ambitious undertaking, involving booking space and working with the schedules (and temperaments) of dozens of musicians. \u201cPeople tell me I’m one of the hardest-working people in show business,\u201d Wilson smiles. \u201cI tell ’em, ‘I’ve got a mortgage, a car payment, and a wife!’ But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is what I do.\u201d Wilson will emcee all of the concerts, and will perform at several of the dates.<\/p>\n

Attending Russ Wilson’s History of Jazz<\/i>, \u201cYou’ll get a little bit of a history lesson along with being entertained,\u201d Wilson says, while admitting that the concerts won’t explore \u201cevery single detailed genre of jazz.\u201d But then there’s always next year \u2013 and beyond \u2013 for those.<\/p>\n

(For more info, visit www.rwhoj.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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