Highly regarded as a musician's musician, Steve Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings and ensembles led by such celebrated artists as Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Karrin Allyson, and Don Byron, among many others.
Arriving in New York in 1987, Wilson quickly became the first-call choice for veteran and emerging artists alike, prompting a New York Times profile "A Sideman's Life". Since 1997, he has been regularly cited in the DownBeat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls in the soprano and alto saxophone categories. In 2008, the Jazz Journalists Association nominated him for Soprano Sax Player of the Year and in 2010 for Alto Sax Player of the Year. In February 2011, Wilson celebrated his 50th birthday with a six-night engagement, leading six different bands at Jazz Standard, NYC’s premiere jazz club. In a major interview feature preview, The Wall Street Journal proclaimed, “The Sideman Becomes the Star.” The WSJ article, by respected writer Larry Blumenfeld, added, “Mr. Wilson is essential to this city’s jazz landscape.”
Wilson is a respected leader of two diverse ensembles, Steve Wilson Quartet and Wilsonian’s Grain, and he is a member of three dynamic duos, with drummer Lewis Nash, with pianist Bruce Barth as documented on their recording Home on the We Always Swing label, and also with pianist Billy Childs. He co-leads a sublime and elegant trio with Renee Rosnes and Peter Washington. Wilson has seven recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with such stellar artists as Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Rene Marie Ray Drummond, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, and Ben Riley.
An in-demand and passionate educator, Wilson is an Associate Professor of Music at City College of New York and is on faculty at the Juilliard School. He has been artist in residence at institutions including the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Manitoba, University of Maryland-College Park, and Virginia Commonwealth University. He conducts clinics and master classes around the world.
