Sometimes life steers you to the right place at the right time.
That is how Harry Wilson began his professional career in the 1970s and has continued to play his signature vibraphone alongside a rotating cast of fellow musicians for the last 50 years. In that stretch of time, 30 of those years have been spent playing his brand of jazz in the Fredericksburg area.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Wilson was exposed to music at an early age, with family members either playing music in the home or being musicians themselves. By the age of 10, Wilson began to experience music as an important path in his life. He was heavily influenced by the music that flourished in Philadelphia at the time, which included luminaries such as John Coltrane and Marion Anderson.
In later years, when friends returned home from military service, they brought home records to share with Wilson. He soon discovered the work of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderley, cementing jazz music as his genre of choice.
It was music of Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson that introduced him to the instrument that would “blow his mind.” The vibraphone is an instrument consisting of tuned metal bars that are played with mallets, similar to a xylophone which has wooden bars. Inspired, Wilson took his first lessons on what would become his signature instrument in 1970 at the age of 22 at the Grandoff Music School in Philadelphia.
But it was a chance encounter at the corner of 25th and Columbia in Philadelphia that would change the trajectory of Wilson’s life.
Wilson was walking down the street and turned a corner when he say members of avant-garde jazz group Sun Ra Arkestra coming out of a palm reader’s shop. Wilson had met the pioneering leader Sun Ra years earlier while visiting family in New Jersey. But at this second meeting he was invited to join the Arkestra.
Wilson played with the ever-changing 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, his first wife’s hometown. Arriving in May 1990, Wilson found much to like about the region, such as its close-knit community, many of whom 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 more avenues to connect with the community through his music.
Fredericksburg Jazz Collective, a non-profit dedicated to keeping jazz alive in the region, approached him to become its first vice president. The group works to increase awareness of the genre, develop local talent and ensure good-paying gigs for musicians through its programs and online resources.
Wilson still works closely with the collective and continues to help develop jazz musicians through his own band, The Harry Wilson Group. Living in Fredericksburg has helped him develop his own songwriting skills, Wilson said, which resulted in a self-titled solo album. Wilson’s band recently debuted a new composition called “The DH Factor” during their performance at the Fredericksburg Area Museum on May 30.
Wilson said he feels blessed to have come to Fredericksburg, about the karma he’s put out there playing his music and helping other musicians to develop their skills.
Wilson is slated to perform June 14 at the 5th annual PD-16 Juneteenth Celebration at the Virginia Credit Union Stadium and then at the observation at FAM’s Market Square in downtown Fredericksburg June 19.
“(Juneteenth) means we’ve come a long way. We came a long way through the trials and tribulations of life, “ he said. “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 {the president’s) karma up in D.C. is going to come back just like everybody else.”
