“Frank Sinatra”,”Come Fly With Me”,”Sinatra at the Sands”,
“Erroll Garner”,”How High The Moon”,”That’s My Kick/Gemini”
“Gerald Wilson”,”Blues For The Count”,”New York, New Sound”
“Hank Jones”,”I’ll Remember April”,”Hank Jones-Red Mitchell Duo”
“Heath Brothers”,”I’m Glad There Is You”,”As We Were Saying”
“Astral Project”,”Old Folks”,”Voodoo Bop”
“Dexter Gordon”,”It’s You Or No One”,”Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard”
“Rosemary Clooney, Duke Ellington”,”Sophisticated Lady”,”Blue Rose”
“Cal Collins “,”Until The Real Thing Comes Along”,”Ohio Style”
“Jonathan Batiste Trio”,”Red Beans”,”Live in New York”
“The Harper Brothers”,”Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”,”Artistry”
“Valery Ponomarev”,”I Concentrate On You”,”Profile”
“Victor Goines”,”Waltz Beneath the Weeping Willow”,”New Adventures”
“John Lewis”,”Django”,”Evolution”,
“Shirley Horn”,”Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home”,”I Remember Miles”
“Count Basie Orchestra”,”April In Paris”,”Long Live the Chief”

MFT -  You’ve enjoyed some national airplay for your most recent disc, “One For Shirley,” (I’ve heard tracks on Sirius XM and also on KJAZZ from Los Angeles) what is your next project?

TW – I’m actually not sure. I have two projects pending. The first is original music that was written specifically for the musical personalities in my sextet. The second consists of Christmas Holiday arrangements that would involve the inclusion of some vocalists as well. I debuted a bit of this new material at a CPFJ Holiday concert this past December 2008.

MFT -  Who are you listening to these days?  Do you have anyone on your radar as being the next big thing?

TW – Everyone! I’m listening to the new music mediums, MySpace, Youtube, Music Choice, Sirius, etc. The internet has helped level the playing field a bit, allowing many new artists, the chance to be heard, who otherwise may have never been.

I don’t feel that I’m qualified to predict the next BIG thing but I will say that many eyes are on pianist Gerald Clayton, the son of the “progenitor”, bassist John Clayton. He’s extraordinarily talented, as well as a true gentleman, most importantly, he’s “cool” like a jazz musician should be. New Orleans trumpeter Christian Scott is the same way. A few other young artists to watch out for are vibraphonist, Warren Wolf, drummer Marcus Gilmore, trumpeter Michael Rodriguez, pianist Aruan Ortiz, vocalist Joanna Pascale, organist Pat Bianchi, young drummers Kush Abadey and Justin Falkner (both still in High School), and bassist Esperanza Spalding.

MFT -  I realize that, as Wynton Marsalis once said, Jazz is serious business; however, are you having any fun these days?

TW – I love to perform and still do so regularly, but I am also an ”Artist in Residence” at Messiah College. I find teaching to be immensely rewarding intellectually and spiritually. Terell Stafford and I, have already had influential hands in guiding the careers of a few wonderful artists like, the brilliant and artistically eccentric pianist Orrin Evans, saxophonist Jaleel Shaw(currently w/ Roy Haynes), and drum dynamo Rodney Green. Sharing information with them early, then creating a forum allowing them to evolve, is like planting seeds and watching them grow.

MFT -  Where do you see yourself in five years?
TW – This is difficult to say. I hope to continue as a contributor to this valuable artform, but in an even greater magnitude.

What’s more I had free tickets to each of the concerts. A local disc jockey would run call-in contests during his afternoon show. The questions were pretty easy but the trick was getting through on the one phone line to his studio. Also, this being the era of rotary dial telephones I literally dialed my fingers to the bone!

I don’t know what I expected to hear at the first concert, the Woody Herman band. However, I was blown away by the power of the band and the swing of the soloists. One of the names I recall is drummer Jake Hanna who really propelled the band. The other soloist I remember was saxophonist Sal Nistico, who I would meet some 15 years later when he played a local gig.

Next up was Stan Kenton. This was in the mellophonium era when Stan was carrying the extra brass in addition to the standard sixteen piece big band. Once again I was transfixed by the power of the band even though at the time I didn’t realize that I was seeing and hearing an unusual group of instruments. The standout soloist was trombonist Dee Barton. A few years later I would see Kenton again and Barton then was playing drums! With his composing and arranging skills Barton must have been an important part of the Kenton machine.

Finally Spring brought the Basie band to our town. While Basie’s troops could wail with the best of them, I was taken with the rhythm section and especially Freddie Green on guitar. I remember his big solo on “Little Darlin’”.

Over the ensuing years I would trek out to warm my ears with big band jazz. It was all I wanted to hear. Considering that I was then a senior in High School I guess I didn’t fit the image of a typical teenager growing up in the sixties. But I had made up my mind that this was what I liked.

In fact, it would be several years before I began to appreciate small group jazz. By the time 1970 rolled around and I started the first version of the My Favorite Things radio show I had developed a broad appreciation of jazz and the extraordinary people who create it. Over 40 years later I’m still in awe.