Teddy Wilson Talks Jazz: The Autobiography of Teddy Wilson

200 Pages·2001·10.382 MB·English

by  Teddy Wilson, Arie Ligthart, Humphrey van Loo

Teddy Wilson Talks Jazz
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BAYOUJAZZLIVES
TEDDY
WILSON
TALKS JAZZ
TEDDY WILSON
WithARIE LIGTHART
and HUMPHREY VAN LOO
Foreword by BENNY GOODMAN
CONTINUUM
NEW YORK • LONDON
2001
The Continuum International Publishing Group
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017
The Continuum International Publishing Group
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
First published in Great Britain in 1996 by Cassell
by arrangement with Bayou Press Ltd
© 1996 the Estate of Teddy Wilson
Recording Chronology © 1996 Howard Rye
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
written permission of the publishers.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Teddy, 1912-
Teddy Wilson talks jazz / by Teddy Wilson, with Arie Ligthart and Humphrey van Loo.
p. cm. — (Bayou jazz lives)
Includes discography and indexes.
ISBN 0-8264-5797-5 (pbk.)
1. Wilson, Teddy, 1912-2. Jazz musicians-United States-Biography. I. Ligthart,
Arie. II. Van Loo, Humphrey. III. Title. IV. Series.
ML417.W52A32001
786.2'165'092"dc21
[B]
2001047040
Contents
Publisher's Note vii
Foreword by Benny Goodman ix
Introductory Note xi
1 Early Beginnings 1
2 Off To Detroit 9
3 Lady Day 22
4 The Music Goes Round 30
5 Swing Is King 37
6 Into Films 55
7 To Russia With Jazz 61
8 A Band Of My Own 71
9 Europe Here I Come 87
10 Handful Of Keys 98
11 Whither Jazz? 118
Recording Chronology 127
Index 173
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Publisher's Note
(from 1996 Cdssell hardback edition)
This book was originally written between 1976 and 1978, and
was to have been published during Teddy Wilson's lifetime.
The original publisher then underwent a change of policy,
and the book never appeared. For many years up to and fol-
lowing Teddy's death in 1986, Arie Ligthart sought a new
publisher, and with the help of pianist Martin Litton, the
book was originally announced by Bayou Press to appear in
1991. As so long had passed since the book was written, it
was agreed to delay the book slightly, so that the fairly slen-
der manuscript could be augmented by material from
Charles Fox's BBC interviews with Teddy, which took place
the week after one of the main interviewing sessions with
Ligthart and van Loo, and which covered a number of sub-
jects obviously fresh in Teddy's mind, from a slightly differ-
ent perspective. Charles's death in May 1991 further delayed
matters, and we are grateful to Howard Rye for integrating
this material with the story, and for preparing the compre-
hensive recording chronology, based on an original compila-
tion by Gerard Bielderman. A number of further delays held
the book up in production and we are glad that it will now
appear under our arrangement with Cassell. Despite the pas-
sage of time, we have preserved Teddy's words exactly as
they were set down in the 1970s, and so there are some obvi-
ous anachronisms, notably in the comments on South Africa
and the former Soviet Union, that reflect the views of the
time.
Alyn Shipton
Bayou Press 1996
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Foreword
By Benny Goodman
This is a foreword, but not an introduction, because Teddy
Wilson does not need one. Through his records and personal
appearances, he is well known to millions of jazz fans
throughout the world. His superb music has already spoken
for him, but musically eloquent though he is, it may well be
asked: "Who is the man behind the music?"
Teddy Wilson is of a retiring disposition. Publicity stunts
and cavorting before the footlights to gain the favors of the
public are not for him. I can speak with authority, because of
course I worked with him during an important era in jazz
music from July 1935, after I met him at a party given by
singer Mildred Bailey, until 1939, when he left me to form his
own band. It was a memorable period, both for me person-
ally, and for jazz. We made history not only with the big band
but also with the Trio and Quartet, featuring myself, Teddy,
Lionel Hampton and Gene Krupa. It was the first inter-racial
music group and marked an important milestone in race rela-
tions in the United States. We were not bothered ourselves,
however, and to us it was the music that mattered.
During that time I got to know Teddy intimately and I have
retained a high respect for him both as a musician and as a
person. I have gone on record as saying that my pleasure in
playing with Teddy Wilson equalled the pleasure I got out of
playing Mozart, and that's saying something. I've said it
before and I'll say it again today.
Teddy is a walking history of some of the most vital peri-
ods in jazz, and fortunately he has a retentive memory. He
has played as an equal with countless jazz greats and I am
happy that the time has now come for a summing up, valu-
able now that jazz is experiencing a revival, and valuable to
posterity as an authentic document. I wish him luck and I
hope the book gets the readership it deserves.