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Skip Wilkins

Skip Wilkins was born and raised in eastern Massachusetts. He grew up in a musical home and began listening to jazz at a very early age. His father played drums locally, so Skip was able to interact with professional musicians as a small child. He first found his way to the stage in kindergarten and has not left the stage since. In many ways his earliest experiences have proved the most enduring. He learned to love singing and listening to subtle harmonies before entering school, taking particular delight in the Great American songbook repertoire of such composers as Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin and others of the first half of the twentieth century. Also drawn to syncopated rhythms and polyrhythms of jazz recordings that he heard at home, it is readily apparent that the seeds of his future style were already planted in pre-school. Many years later, a seasoned professional pianist, Skip is noted for his lyricism, fascination with harmonic color, boundless rhythmic energy, and interest in exploring songs from the Great American Songbook.

Skip has been fortunate to play with luminaries and un-sung local players wherever he has lived. As he was coming up in Boston, he worked with drummers Joe Hunt and Bob Moses and with saxophonists Jimmy Mosher and John LaPorta. In Denver, where he established his style, Skip was a well-known figure regionally, and often performed with the marquee players when they visited the area. These included saxophonist Plas Johnson, vocalists Mark Murphy and Darmon Meader, trumpeter Conte Candoli, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Peter Erskine. He also made his first recording, Two Much Fun!,on Eaglear Records, as co-leader with flutist Jill Allen. While in the Rocky Mountain region, he toured the West with various groups and performed regularly at all the established jazz clubs, including the famous El Chapultepec. He also performed countless times at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where he taught during his eight years in Colorado.

Relocated to eastern Pennsylvania in 1995, Skip resumed his performing career on the east coast with the Wilkins & Allen Quartet. In 2001 on Cathexis Records, Skip and Jill Allen released Petty Theft,which featured guest performances by Grammy-nominated saxophonist David Liebman. He also continued to perform in concert with all-stars, including saxophonists Stanley Turrentine and Bobby Watson, trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Al Grey, and drummer T.S. Monk. Of course, right in his backyard Skip periodically performs with Philadelphia legends Mickey Roker, Larry McKenna and John Swana, among many others. Skip plays all of the great regional jazz venues, including Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus and Chris’s Jazz Café, both in Philadelphia, and Delaware Water Gap’s Deer Head Inn.

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2
Album Review

Skip Wilkins Quartet feat. Daniel Wilkins: Czech Wishes

Read "Czech Wishes" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Although he's based in Eastern Pennsylvania, where he teaches at Lafayette College, pianist Skip Wilkins spends as much time as he can in the Czech Republic, the source of inspiration for his last two releases. Czech Dreams (New Port Line, 2013) and Czech Wishes, his current project, are not so much about crafting an Eastern European-tinged music, as Wilkins' songwriting stays comfortably within the world of mainstream jazz. He does have an impressive trio of Czech musicians with him on ...

3
Album Review

Skip Wilkins Quartet: Czech Dreams

Read "Czech Dreams" reviewed by Edward Blanco


World-class jazz pianist Skip Wilkins regularly splits his time between Eastern Pennsylvania--where he teaches at Lafayette College in Easton--and Central Europe where he recently spent fifteen months in Prague. Czech Dreams, dedicated to the Czech people, is a result of touring throughout the Czech Republic and Germany and cementing his relationship with friend and Prague-based guitarist Libor Smoldas who is part of this recording. Recorded at Studio Svarov in the Czech Republic, the album offers a selection of eleven sensitive ...

210
Album Review

Skip Wilkins Quintet: The Paint-Peeler

Read "The Paint-Peeler" reviewed by Matthew Warnock


The Paint-Peeler melds together elements of traditional, modern, and free jazz in a mélange of creative energy and expression. Wilkins' compositions and arrangements are full of emotion and intellectual fervor, while his improvisations are first-rate and are constantly being enhanced by the rest of the ensemble. The quintet, consisting of Paul Kendall on saxophones, Tom Kozic on guitar, Tony Marino on bass, and Gary Rissmiller on drums, moves between '60s avant-garde free-improvisation and '50s style swing in a manner that ...

218
Album Review

Skip Wilkins: Skip Wilkins Quintet, Vol. I

Read "Skip Wilkins Quintet, Vol. I" reviewed by Tom Greenland


Pianist/composer/bandleader Skip Wilkins is a talented musician working out of Eastern Pennsylvania, where he teaches at the Williams Center of the Arts in Easton in addition to making gigs in Philadelphia, the Poconos and New York City. He's recorded several albums with flutist Jill Allen and has compiled, over the years, an impressive catalog of original compositions, now available on Quintet, Vol. 1, soon to be followed by a companion volume. Culled from three separate concerts given ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Czech Wishes

New Port Line
2019

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Czech Dreams

New Port Line
2013

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The Paint-Peeler

Dreambox Media
2009

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Skip Wilkins Quintet,...

Dreambox Media
2006

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