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| Trumpeter / Vocalist Abram Wilson In Only US Appearance To Showcase CD Expatriate New Orleans Native Currently Residing in UK Returns To US Riding Wave Of Critical Acclaim For Ambitious Recording Debut As Leader Celebrating Jazz, R&B & Hip-Hop Trumpeter and vocalist Abram Wilson will present the North American premiere of music from “Jazz Warrior,” his critically acclaimed recording debut as a leader on the award-winning British jazz label Dune Records, on Monday, April 4th at The Knitting Factory-NY, 74 Leonard Street between Church and Broadway in Manhattan. Tickets at $15 to the 8 pm and 9:30 pm sets are available at The Knitting Factory box office, online at www.knittingfactory.com or by phone at 212.219.3132. Wilson will perform with his US band featuring Logan Richardson on alto sax, Walter Smith on tenor sax, Richard Johnson on piano, Joe Sanders on double bass and Justin Brown on drums. A virtuoso instrumentalist, Wilson is also a talented and soulful singer/songwriter whose versatile voice is equally at home performing jazz scat, rap, R&B, hip hop and reggae. “Jazz Warrior” demonstrates his acute sense of both traditional and modern musical styles by tastefully blending his affinity for swing with contemporary urban grooves featured on the CD's 13 originals and an arrangement by Wilson of Stevie Wonder’s classic ballad “Golden Lady” that will be showcased at The Knitting Factory. “Jazz Warrior” received rave reviews in the British press upon its October 2004 release in Europe where it was hailed as “...an astonishingly accomplished debut” in The Independent and as “...a stunning debut” in The Guardian. “Jazz Warrior”continued to be praised on this side of the Atlantic with its January 2005 release in the US as Billboard jazz columnist Dan Ouellette cited the CD as “...an impressive debut” while John Murph's profile of Wilson published in the February 2005 issue of JazzTimes called it “splendid.” Wilson's CD debuted at #21 on the CMJ Jazz Top-40 chart for the week of March 1 reflecting national airplay on 150 college radio stations around the US and debuted at #40 on the JazzWeek chart reflecting airplay on the major American jazz stations the week of March 22nd. The first American artist signed to Dune Records, Wilson was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1975 and raised in New Orleans. He started playing trumpet at age 9 and when he was 13 auditioned for and was accepted to The New Orleans Center For Creative Arts -- the alma mater of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr and Nicholas Payton, among other -- from which he graduated in 1991. Wilson was awarded a scholarship to attend Ohio Wesleyan University where he studied classical trumpet and earned a BA in Music Education and received an MA in Jazz Performance and Composition from the Eastman Conservatory in Rochester, NY. He then moved to New York City where he started his own band incorporating both his vocal and trumpet skills and performed with the Roy Hargrove Big Band and with R&B legend Ruth Brown, making his recording debut in 1999 on her CD “Good Day For The Blues.” Wilson moved to London in 2002 and an encounter at one of Dune’s regular jam sessions there led to his becoming a mainstay in the bands of label founder and bassist Gary Crosby (Jazz Jamaica and Nu Troop) and the saxophonists Soweto Kinch and Denys Baptiste. He joined Dune’s roster at the end of 2003 and has established himself as a central figure on the London jazz scene and also regularly works with the hip-hop/R&B production team Soulja Projkt for whom he primarily does vocal and instrumental arranging. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |