Reuben Wilson, pioneering jazz musician, dead at 88
Pioneering jazz organist Reuben Wilson has died aged 88. The news has been confirmed by his family.
The jazz extraordinaire rose to prominence in the scene with his debut album, In Broadway, released in 1968 through Blue Note Records. Over the next few years, Wilson continued to release music through the label until he parted ways in the 1970s. The organist was a noteworthy figure in the New York jazz scene after moving from Los Angeles.
In addition to his own career, Wilson regularly played with Melvin Sparks and Willie Jackson. He also formed the band Wildare Express, which performed in New York. After a lengthy break in his recording career, Wilson began making albums again in the late ’90s, with his last LP, Revisited, arriving in 2011.
Wilson’s death was confirmed by his son Reuben Reuel Wilson. The musician had been battling dementia for many years and was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Wilson died in Harlem. He’s survived by his two sons and his wife Daphne.
Pete Fallico, the founder of the Jazz Organ Fellowship Hall of Fame, said of Wilson to NPR: “Reuben Wilson helped usher in what we now call Soul Jazz. And in the ’90s, his music was revitalized when English DJs like Gilles Petersen started playing all these old funky tunes he had recorded decades earlier”.
Looking back upon his time at Blue Note Records during an interview with All About Jazz in 2003, Wilson said: “It was a very important label at the time and so it an honor to get on that label. We were free to play pretty much what we wanted to and Blue Note was all about finding somebody fresh. They accepted what you were going to do and they didn’t dictate anything”.
Adding: “I think the only dictation I got from them was they didn’t really want me to record any blues and that was kind of a staple for jazz, but that was all right with me because I had another thing in mind anyway. I wanted to take straight ahead jazz and mix it with pop.”
Listen to ‘Love Bug’ below.
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