Edward Wilkerson

Who is Edward Wilkerson?

Edward L. Wilkerson, Jr., is an internationally recognized American jazz composer, arranger, musician, and educator based in Chicago. As founder and director of the cutting edge octet, 8 Bold Souls, and the 25 member performance ensemble, Shadow Vignettes, Wilkerson has toured festivals and concert halls throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Middle East. Defender, a large-scale piece for Shadow Vignettes, was commissioned by the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund and featured in the 10th Anniversary of New Music America, a presentation of BAM's Next Wave Festival.

His music can be heard on fourteen recordings, including two film soundtracks and the critically acclaimed albums Birth of a Notion, and 8 Bold Souls, both on his own Sessoms Records label.

One of the great saxophone and clarinet players on the Chicago scene, Edward Wilkerson Jr., from the 1980s into the new millennium may have become best known as a bandleader and composer, particularly associated with medium- to large-scale projects. He has also been a major presence in Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, teaching composition at the organization's music school and serving for a time as AACM president.