Herman Wilson Collection

Herman Herrington Wilson (1929-2020) was a Jamaican-born trombonist, band leader, arranger, composer, and educator. He started playing light orchestral music in Jamaica before joining Sonny Bradshaw’s Seven. In 1951, he travelled to England with Joe Harriot as part of pianist Ozzie Da Costa’s band. He then moved to continental Europe and played with many artists, such as George Johnson, Don Byas, Pierre Michelot, Kenny Clarke, and Bill Coleman, among others. In the 1960s, he settled in London, playing with Tubby Hayes, Jimmy Deuchar, Dizzy Reece, and Sammy Walker among many others, and co-leading a group with trombonist Pete Myers which toured overseas. Wilson worked primarily as a music director, composer, and educator in the following decades. 

The Herman Wilson Collection comprises most of his compositional work, including his ten-piece Chamber Group’s album At the Woodwinds’ Ball (1978, Spot. 512).