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Abram Wilson

Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1975, Abram Wilson was raised along with his four brothers and one sister in New Orleans, Louisiana. The eldest of six children, the entire family including mother, Doris Wilson, and father, Willie C Wilson Jr, had some experience in music. Abram's first inspiration and introduction to music was at the age of five when listening to his father play the guitar and to recordings which his father would play. Soon after being bought a snare drum for Christmas, Abram went on to play drums. At nine, Abram received his first trumpet and after being taught his first note by his mother, he immediately began learning songs from the radio and developing his own method of ear training.

Starting with his first instructor, Lester Wright, Abram quickly became the most advanced in the class, surpassing many of the older students. At 13, he began to display the ability to lead, and was elected to front his 75-piece school band as drum major. That same year, Abram auditioned for the New Orleans Center For Creative Arts (NOCCA), a school specialising in jazz and classical music, among other art forms, and responsible for producing artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr, Donald Harrison, Delfayo Marsalis, and Nicholas Payton, all of whom graduated from the school. Whilst there Abram studied under the tutelage of Clyde Kerr Jr, Ronald Benko, Dr Burt Breaud, and band director, Augustus Walker at O Perry Walker Sr High School, all of whom would further shape his musical direction and raise it to a new level. In 1991, Abram graduated from both schools and was ready to take on new parts of the world.

At 17, Abram was teaching trumpet privately and soon earned a music scholarship to Ohio Wesleyan University. Here, he studied classical trumpet with Larry Griffin and at 22, graduated with a bachelor's degree in music education, qualifying him to teach both choral and instrumental music from kindergarten to college aged students. Abram went on to study at the world renown Eastman Conservatory in Rochester, New York where he attained his masters, studying jazz performance and composition with Ralph Alessi, Mike Cain, and Fred Sturm, and classical trumpet with Barbara Butler. It was also during this time Abram became closely involved with Young Audiences, an organization which brought professional artists to schools to perform and conduct workshops for children. Abram soon found himself performing for groups of up to 250, dealing with subjects like jazz history, groove, music theory, improvisation, and music composition. These workshops proved to be amazingly successful in Rochester, Cleveland and New York and inspired a number of students to pursue careers in music.

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427
Album Review

Abram Wilson: Life Paintings

Read "Life Paintings" reviewed by Chris May


Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas but brought up in New Orleans, where he studied at the Center for Creative Artists--alma mater of fellow trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton--Abram Wilson relocated to London in 2002. In 2003 he signed to Dune Records, the recording and management home for a number of significant, London-based, black artists. Life Paintings is his third album for the label.Wilson's previous disc, Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta (Dune, 2007), ...

260
Album Review

Abram Wilson: Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta

Read "Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta" reviewed by Chris May


An intact and heritage-conscious American abroad, the Arkansas-born, Louisiana-raised trumpeter Abram Wilson--based in London these past five years--made his debut as leader in 2004 with Jazz Warrior (Dune). The album attempted the difficult trick of addressing both jazz and hip hop, with unconvincing results, and this new set avers that it continues along a similar route. It does and it doesn't--but this time the music is an unqualified success.

Ride! Ferris Wheel To The Modern Day Delta purports to tell ...

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114

Recording

Dune Records Announces U.S. Release of New CDs by Saxophonist/MC Soweto Kinch & Trumpeter/Vocalist Abram Wilson

Dune Records Announces U.S. Release of New CDs by Saxophonist/MC Soweto Kinch & Trumpeter/Vocalist Abram Wilson

Source: MFA - Mitchell Feldman Associates

Kinch & Wilson Will Premiere Music From Their Much-Anticipated Second CDs At Showcases March 16th At The Elephant Room During 2007 SXSW Conference in Austin, TX The British jazz label Dune Records, internationally acclaimed for its decade-long commitment to nurturing and documenting the work of black artists who are central figures on the UK jazz scene, announces the US release of saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch's second CD A Life In The Day Of B19: Tales Of The Tower Block ...

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Performance / Tour

Trumpeter / Vocalist Abram Wilson In Only US Appearance To Showcase CD

Trumpeter / Vocalist Abram Wilson In Only US Appearance To Showcase CD

Source: All About Jazz

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 ...

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