Ernie Wilkins
saxophone, arranger
Saxophonist and arranger; he had written the music for a programme of Billie Holiday songs that Barry and Charles McPherson were to play in Detroit, and when he turned out to be in Europe with the music, Barry wrote the string parts himself.
- mentions
- 3
- recordings
- 2
- Barry speaking
- 1
What Barry says
Barry was due in Detroit with Charles McPherson to play McPherson’s Billie Holiday album with ten members of the Detroit Symphony. Ernie Wilkins had written all the music, but a few days before the concert they found out he was in Europe, with the music.
Jazz theory, part 4: borrowing diminished notes2:48Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶313
Barry, who had never written for strings, wrote ten arrangements himself, with Paul Jeffries copying beside him as he wrote; they finished the last one on the plane to Detroit.
Jazz theory, part 4: borrowing diminished notes2:152:48Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶313
After they played, a woman in the orchestra told him it was some of the most beautiful music she had ever played. Barry says it made him proud and convinced him he could write for strings.
Jazz theory, part 4: borrowing diminished notes2:483:20Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶314
In the oral history the episode leads into his own big concerts: first ten singers, ten strings and four guest soloists, later large choirs with a big band and strings on one stage.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶312Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶314
In his own words
Maybe about two days before the concert, three days, we found out that Ernie was in Europe, with all his music there too.
I said, I know what I’m gonna do, Im gonna write me some music. I’ll see how to write for some strings.
So I had to write these pieces out real quick. I had a fella sitting here copying it as I wrote it out
Every mention
3 moments in the recordings, 1 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Jazz theory, part 4: borrowing diminished notes
- 2:48
Wilkins was away with the music for a Detroit Symphony date, so Barry wrote the string pieces himself.
Ep. 20 | Charles McPherson: Meeting Charlie Parker, Studying with Barry Harris, and the Art of Bebop
In the interviews and notes
Barry tells Aaron Graves that Wilkins had written all the music for a Billie Holiday programme with Charles McPherson and ten Detroit Symphony players. Days before, Wilkins turned out to be in Europe with the music, so Barry wrote ten string arrangements, finishing the last on the plane.
Barry had never written for strings; when a symphony player told him she had never played anything more beautiful, he decided he could. Next came his own concert with ten singers, ten strings and four guest soloists, which he calls his most successful.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.