A chance encounter outside a palm reader forever altered Harry Wilson’s fortunes.
In 1977, Wilson encountered members of the avant-garde jazz group Sun Ra Arkestra on the corner of 25th and Columbia Streets in Philadelphia.
Wilson had met Sun Ra years earlier while visiting family in New Jersey, and, at their second meeting, the musician was invited to join the Arkestra and moved from Philadelphia to Germantown, Md.
He’s continued to play his signature vibraphone alongside a rotating cast of fellow musicians for the last 50 years — the past 30 spent playing his brand of jazz in the Fredericksburg area.
Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1950s, Wilson began listening to music at an early age. He decided to become a musician at age 10 because of a cousin who played clarinet in the school marching band.
Wilson was influenced by the music that flourished in Philadelphia at the time, which included luminaries such as John Coltrane and Marion Anderson. When Wilson’s friends returned home from military service, they brought home records and shared the vinyl wealth. Through those friends, he discovered the work of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley, cementing jazz music as his genre of choice.
Soon after, Wilson discovered the music of Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson, which introduced him to the vibraphone, an instrument that he said “blew his mind.” He took his first lessons on what would become his signature percussion instrument in 1970 at the age of 22 at the Grandoff Music School in Philadelphia.
Wilson played with the group from 1977 to 1981, including the 1979 albums “The Other Side of the Sun” and “Sleeping Beauty”. He recalls Sun Ra being experimental and esoteric in his musical style and authoritative and sober in his personal life.
“Sonny was a disciplinarian,” said Wilson of Sun Ra. “He was a leader of men… He would quote stuff from the Bible, and he’d tell you how important it is for you to be a good individual, how to believe in yourself and have the discipline to be humble and learn from your mistakes and be a better person to other people. It was overwhelming for my head.”
After his tenure with the Sun Ra Arkestra ended, Wilson found his way to Fredericksburg, following his then-wife, who came from the town he would come to call home.
Arriving in May 1990, Wilson found much to like about the region, such as its close-knit community and the many people who were interested in hearing him play his vibraphones, thanks to his affiliation with the Sun Ra Arkestra. Wilson joined The Fredericksburg Big Band and continued to pick up gigs playing in churches, museums and bars as far north as the DC metro area and as far south as Richmond.
As his career continued to flourish in the area, Wilson found other avenues to connect with the community through his music.
Fredericksburg Jazz Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping jazz alive in the Fredericksburg region, approached him to become its first vice president. Through its programs and online resources, the collective helps to further expose the music, develop local talent and ensure good-paying gigs for those musicians. Wilson still works closely with the collective and continues to help develop jazz musicians through his own band, The Harry Wilson Group.
Wilson said that living in Fredericksburg helped him develop his own songwriting skills, which resulted in his own self-titled solo album. Wilson and his band recently debuted a new composition called “The DH Factor” during a recent performance at the Fredericksburg Area Museum on May 30. Wilson said one of his proudest moments came from the compliments he got about his songwriting from his peers.
Wilson will perform June 14 at the 5th Annual PD-16 Juneteenth Celebration at the Virginia Credit Union Stadium.
Juneteenth “means we’ve come a long way,” he said. “We came a long way through the trials and tribulations of life. Life experiences will teach you whether you did the right thing or the wrong thing, like what’s happening now. Whatever karma you put out comes back, so his karma up in D.C. is going to come back just like everybody else.”
