Nancy Wilson

Diva Nancy Wilson was among contemporary music's most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets -- and even hosting her own television variety program -- she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Cannonball Adderley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7uUBTiZ2u5b40vymlFmXrn">George Shearing</a>. Born February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late '50s, eventually signing to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> and issuing LPs including 1959's Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May's Orchestra. Her dates with <a href="spotify:artist:7uUBTiZ2u5b40vymlFmXrn">Shearing</a>, including 1960's The Swingin's Mutual, solidified her standing as a talent on the rise, and her subsequent work with <a href="spotify:artist:5v74mT11KGJqadf9sLw4dA">Adderley</a> -- arguably her finest recordings -- further cemented her growing fame and reputation.

In the years to follow, however, Wilson often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists; she made numerous albums, many of them properly categorized as pop and R&B outings, and toured extensively, appearing with everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:7v4imS0moSyGdXyLgVTIV7">Nat King Cole</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1bgyxtWjZwA5PQlDsvs9b8">Sarah Vaughan</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:4EYVgfZJ8wKXWmIvCx3gOY">Ruth Brown</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0V6zo2mJw9FdwWLClKC9yw">LaVern Baker</a>. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programs; hits of the period included "Tell Me the Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace of Mind," and "Now, I'm a Woman." Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the '80s, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including <a href="spotify:artist:0BhFfJmScFj7OzqVaDqnSv">Hank Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4L9xEztn5PKQIO5WnI5W3u">Art Farmer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7Kfrmups2Z3ncDQmNS5jRc">Ramsey Lewis</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:78NDaMzmcDKjt7mkXs7AuG">Benny Golson</a>. By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the "new adult contemporary" market, her style ideally suited to the format's penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.

In the early 2000s, Wilson recorded two albums with <a href="spotify:artist:7Kfrmups2Z3ncDQmNS5jRc">Ramsey Lewis</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Narada%22">Narada</a> (2002's Meant to Be and 2003's Simple Pleasures). Her 2004 album R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) was a blend of straight-ahead jazz and ballads, similar to her next record, 2006's Turned to Blue, which, like R.S.V.P., used a different instrumentalist for each track. In 2005, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Capitol%22">Capitol</a> released a three-part series to pay tribute to Wilson's contributions to music in the '50s and '60s: Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love, Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads, and The Great American Songbook. Nancy Wilson died at her home on December 13, 2018 after a long illness. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi