Phillip Wilson, the drummer and St. Louis native who was an early member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, broke into the musical big time with the Butterfield Blues Band, and went on to play with many of the important free jazz musicians of the 1970s and 1980s, is remembered fondly in a recent post by Brian Olewnick at his blog Just Outside.
To interject a personal note, I've had an interest in Wilson and his music since my teens, when I played in a teenage garage/basement band with two of his nephews, who told many awe-tinged stories about their famous “Uncle Phillip" and his adventures in the music biz. Given the relative paucity of information about him on the 'Net, it's nice to see someone else remembering Wilson, who was murdered near NYC's Central Park in 1992, when he was just 50 years old.
There's also a page about Wilson at Discogs.org that offers a sampling of his discography, albeit with some notable omissions, including his work with Butterfield and with Full Moon, a sort of jazz/funk/pop spin-off of the Butterfield band that included keyboardist Neil Larson, guitarist Buzz Feiten and saxophonist Gene Dinwiddie. Despite those gaps, the page is worth a look if you'd like to know more about this great but under-remembered musician.
To interject a personal note, I've had an interest in Wilson and his music since my teens, when I played in a teenage garage/basement band with two of his nephews, who told many awe-tinged stories about their famous “Uncle Phillip" and his adventures in the music biz. Given the relative paucity of information about him on the 'Net, it's nice to see someone else remembering Wilson, who was murdered near NYC's Central Park in 1992, when he was just 50 years old.
There's also a page about Wilson at Discogs.org that offers a sampling of his discography, albeit with some notable omissions, including his work with Butterfield and with Full Moon, a sort of jazz/funk/pop spin-off of the Butterfield band that included keyboardist Neil Larson, guitarist Buzz Feiten and saxophonist Gene Dinwiddie. Despite those gaps, the page is worth a look if you'd like to know more about this great but under-remembered musician.
