Ernie Wilkins

Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. (July 20, 1922 – June 5, 1999) was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with  Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. He was musical director for albums by Cannonball Adderley, Dinah Washington, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich.

Early career
Wilkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. In his early career he played in a military band, before joining Earl Hines's last big band. He worked with Count Basie from 1951 to 1955, eventually leaving to work free-lance as a jazz arranger and songwriter. His success declined in the 1960s, but revived after work with Clark Terry, leading to a tour of Europe.

Final years in Denmark
Eventually Wilkins settled in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he would live for the rest of his life. There he formed the Almost Big Band so he could write for a band of his own formation.

The idea was partly inspired by his wife Jenny. Copenhagen had a thriving jazz scene with several promising jazz musicians as well as a well-established community of expatriate American jazz musicians which had formed in the 1950s and now included representatives like Kenny Drew and Ed Thigpen who joined the band along with Danish saxophonist Jesper Thilo. The band released four albums, but after 1991 he became too ill to do much with it.

Ernie Wilkins died in Copenhagen on June 5, 1999, following a stroke.

He has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Ernie Wilkins Vej" (Ernie Wilkins Street).

Awards and honors

 * 1981 Ben Webster Prize

Discography

 * Kenny Clarke & Ernie Wilkins (Savoy, 1955) with Kenny Clarke
 * Flutes & Reeds (Savoy, 1955)
 * Top Brass (Savoy, 1955)
 * Trumpet Album (Savoy, 1955)
 * The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) with Manny Albam
 * Day In, Day Out (1960)
 * The Big New Band of the '60s (Fresh Sound, 1960)
 * Here Comes the Swingin' Mr. Wilkins (Everest, 1960)
 * Ernie Wilkins & the Almost Big Band (Storyville, 1980)
 * Almost Big Band Live (Matrix Music Marketing, 1981)
 * Live! At the Slukefter Jazz Club (Matrix Music Marketing, 1981)
 * Montreux (SteepleChase, 1983)
 * On the Roll (SteepleChase, 1986)
 * Kaleidoduke (Polygram, 1995)
 * Hard Mother Blues (P-Vine, 2007)
 * Kinda Dukish (Gazell, 2012)

As sideman/arranger
With Count Basie
 * Dance Session (Clef, 1953)
 * Basie Jazz (Clef, 1954) – recorded in 1952
 * The Count! (Clef, 1955) – recorded in 1952
 * Dance Session Album (Clef, 1954)
 * Basie (Clef, 1954)

With Louis Bellson
 * Let's Call It Swing (Verve, 1957)
 * Drummer's Holiday (Verve, 1958)

With DR Big Band
 * Suite for Jazz Band (Hep, 1992) – guest conductor, recorded in 1991

With Rob Franken
 * Fender Rhodes (Sonic Scenery, 2009) – compilations recorded in 1973-76 & 2009

With Maynard Ferguson
 * Maynard '63 (Roulette, 1962)

With Dizzy Gillespie
 * Jazz Recital (Norgran, 1955)
 * World Statesman (Norgran, 1956)
 * Dizzy in Greece (Verve, 1957)

With Al Grey
 * Struttin' and Shoutin' (Columbia, 1983) – recorded in 1975

With Joe Newman
 * All I Wanna Do Is Swing (RCA Victor, 1955)
 * Soft Swingin' Jazz (Coral, 1958)

As composer/arranger
With Ernestine Anderson With Count Basie With Ray Brown With Kenny Clarke With Jimmy Cleveland With Al Cohn With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Maynard Ferguson With Dizzy Gillespie With Freddie Green With Milt Jackson With Harry James With Quincy Jones With Sam Jones With Mark Murphy
 * My Kinda Swing (Mercury, 1960)
 * Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Clef, 1955) with Joe Williams
 * April in Paris (Verve, 1956)
 * Metronome All-Stars 1956 (Clef, 1956) with Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Williams
 * One O'Clock Jump (Verve, 1957) with Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald
 * Me and You (Pablo, 1983)
 * Ray Brown with the All-Star Big Band (Verve, 1962)
 * Telefunken Blues (Savoy, 1955)
 * Cleveland Style (EmArcy, 1958)
 * A Map of Jimmy Cleveland (Mercury, 1959)
 * The Natural Seven (RCA Victor LPM 1116, 1955)
 * That Old Feeling (RCA Victor LPM 1207, 1955)
 * Trane Whistle (Prestige, 1960)
 * Maynard '62 (Roulette, 1962)
 * Birks' Works (Verve, 1957)
 * Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)
 * Big Bags (Riverside, 1962)
 * Wild About Harry! (Capitol T/ST-874, 1957)
 * The New James (Capitol T/ST-1037, 1958)
 * Harry's Choice! (Capitol T/ST-1093, 1958)
 * Harry James and His New Swingin' Band (MGM E/SE-3778, 1959)
 * Harry James...Today! (MGM E/SE-3848, 1960)
 * The Spectacular Sound Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-3897, 1961)
 * The Solid Gold Trumpet Of Harry James (MGM E/SE-4058, 1962)
 * Harry James Twenty-fifth Anniversary Album (MGM E/SE-4214, 1964)
 * The King James Version (Sheffield Lab LAB 3, 1976)
 * Comin' From A Good Place (Sheffield Lab LAB 6, 1977)
 * The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)
 * Down Home (Riverside, 1962)
 * Rah (Riverside, 1961)

With Charles McPherson

With Joe Newman With Herb Pomeroy With Rex Stewart and Cootie Williams With Sarah Vaughan and the Count Basie Orchestra With Dinah Washington With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson With Charles Williams
 * Siku Ya Bibi (Day of the Lady) (Mainstream, 1972)
 * Today's Man (Mainstream, 1973)
 * The Count's Men (Jazztone, 1955)
 * Salute to Satch (RCA Victor, 1956)
 * I Feel Like a Newman (Storyville, 1956)
 * The Midgets (Vik, 1956)
 * The Happy Cats (Coral, 1957)
 * Joe Newman with Woodwinds (Roulette, 1958)
 * The Band and I (United Artists, 1958) with Irene Kral
 * The Big Challenge (Jazztone, 1957)
 * Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan (Roulette, 1960)
 * In the Land of Hi-Fi (EmArcy, 1956)
 * Clean Head's Back in Town (Bethlehem, 1957)
 * Stickball (Mainstream, 1972)