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Gerald Wiggins

Gerald Wiggins, born in Harlem, is a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit. He has worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles where he played music for television and film. He has also worked with singers like Lena Horne, Kay Starr, Nat King Cole, Lou Rawls, Jimmy Witherspoon and Eartha Kitt. It was Wig that taught Marilyn Monroe how to sing for her movie roles.

He is perhaps best known for his trio, the other two members being Andy Simpkins and Paul Humphrey. He also appeared in an episode of 227 and an episode of Moesha, in both cases playing a pianist.

Detailed Bio

Gerald Wiggins began classical piano lessons at the age of four. Like most children, he was not wildly enthusiastic about Chopin or Beethoven, but he did display an aptitude for music. What finally got his undivided attention was an Art Tatum recording played for him by his cousin. "When I first heard that record, I thought it was two or three people playing at the same time." When it was time for high school, Wig was able to attend New York's High School of Music & Art in Harlem where, because of the abundance of piano students, he studied bass. Wig's professional career began while he was still in high school.

His very first gig was playing piano with Dr. Sausage & His Pork Chops, a tramp band complete with washboard and single string bass made from a washtub and pole. His next job was at Monroe's Uptown House. He studied by day, maybe had time for a quick nap, and then played from midnight until dawn, only to head straight back to school. Later he got a gig at a club in Greenwich Village that earned him $3 a night, which was good money in those days. After finishing his last show at four o'clock in the morning, more often than not, he might stop off at Reuben's, an after-hours hangout favored especially by the pianists. It was there, in the basement of a brownstone in Harlem, that Wig got to know his first idol, Art Tatum. It was not unusual to see Teddy Wilson, Bud Powell, or Willie "the Lion" Smith each taking a turn at the old upright piano. Whenever Art Tatum came in, Reuben would line up a few quarts of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Art would drink some, and then set to playing, usually solo. Wig listened intently, soaking up the lessons he'd never get in the classroom. "Art was the kind of guy that if you asked him to show you how he did something, he would, but nine times out of ten you couldn't do it anyhow!" After hearing Wig play at Reuben's, Tatum was impressed enough to recommend Wig for a job with movie comedian Stepin Fetchit. "I did some playing with Stepin Fetchit," recalls Wig, "but I had to do other bits too. He used me as something of a straight man. We worked a lot, touring all over in lots of one-horse towns, but I was making $50 a week and that was really a lot of money back then." It was while working with Stepin Fetchit at the Brooklyn Strand in New York that Wig met Les Hite, whose band was also on the bill. At the end of the engagement, Les' pianist was drafted into the Army and Wig was invited to join the band. The band was based in Los Angeles, and Wig rode out to the coast with them on the tour bus. Leaving the cold winter snows behind them, they arrived in California on Christmas Day, greeted by sunny 100-degree weather. "I called my mother and said ‘I'm in God's country.'"

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164
Album Review

Gerry Wiggins: Wiggin' Out

Read "Wiggin' Out" reviewed by Derek Taylor


Sharing a similar background with many of his fellow organ grinders Wiggins’ first instrument was piano. On this disc he sounds somewhat intoxicated by the sonic possibilities available to him on the electric keyboard and as a result his approach isn’t immediately endearing and takes some getting used to. Favoring a syrupy sustain and an almost roller rink-like echo his sound often borders on the bombastic. Even his less cluttered lines are imbued with a whistling reverberation that sometimes slips ...

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61

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Source:

All About Jazz is celebrating Gerald Wiggins' birthday today!

Gerald Wiggins, born in Harlem, is a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit. He has worked with Louis Armstrong and Benny Carter. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles where he played music for television and film. He has also worked with singers like Lena Horne, Kay Starr, Nat King Cole, Lou ...

152

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Source: Michael Ricci


176

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Jazz Musician of the Day: Gerald Wiggins

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Gerald Wiggins' birthday today!

JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Gerald Wiggins

Gerald Wiggins, born in Harlem, is a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit... more

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120

Obituary

Gerald Wiggins Public Memorial Set

Gerald Wiggins Public Memorial Set

Source: All About Jazz


165

Obituary

Gerald Wiggins, 86; Jazz Pianist Performed with Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Others

Gerald Wiggins, 86; Jazz Pianist Performed with Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Others

Source: Michael Ricci

Gerald Wiggins, a jazz pianist whose long career embraced numerous recordings with his trio, performances with Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Roy Eldridge, Zoot Sims, accompaniment for Lena Horne and Nat “King" Cole, and vocal coaching for Marilyn Monroe, has died. He was 86. Wiggins died Sunday morning at Encino-Tarzana Medical Center, where he had spent the last six weeks. According to his wife, Lynn, Wiggins had been in poor health for months. Versatility was Wiggins' stock in trade, but the ...

239

Obituary

Goodbye, Gerald Wiggins

Goodbye, Gerald Wiggins

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

DevraDoWrite reports that Gerald Wiggins died this morning in Los Angeles at the age of eighty-six. Encouraged when he was a youngster by Art Tatum, for decades Wiggins was revered by listeners and musicians--particularly by other pianists. Anyone familiar with his playing could recognize him immediately by his harmonic acuity, touch, use of space and wry turns of phrase. Jimmy Rowles, one of his greatest admirers among fellow pianists, did Wiggins the rare honor of writing the liner notes for ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Wiggins & Wiggins

Self Produced
2007

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Wig Is Here

Atlantic Records
2002

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Wiggin' Out

Hi Fi Jazz
2000

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Wiggin' Out

Atlantic Records
1960

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Collections

Intro Records
1957

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Videos

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