Artist: Teddy Wilson

Theodore Shaw Wilson was an American  jazz  pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist",  Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. 

His style was highly influenced by Earl Hines and Art Tatum, and his work was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to perform prominently alongside white musicians. In addition to his extensive work as a sideman, Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 1920s to the 1980s. 

Wilson moved to Detroit with his brother and musician Gus Wilson.  Wilson began his first professional career in 1929 with Speed Webb's band. He took over the pianist position of Milton Senior band from Art Tatum in 1930. After touring with the band in Chicago, he decided to stay in Chicago and worked with Louis Armstrong and his orchestra from 1931-1933. He also understudied Earl Hines in Hines's Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra, before moving to New York to perform with Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies in 1933. 

In 1935, while jamming with Benny Goodman and Carl Bellinger at a house party held by Mildred Bailey, they caught the attention of producer John Hammond, who arranged several recording sessions for them. These recordings became the basis of the  Benny Goodman  Trio, which consisted of Goodman, Wilson, and drummer Gene Krupa (and, later, Lionel Hampton). 

Hammond was also instrumental in getting Wilson a contract with  Brunswick from 1935 to 1939 to record hot swing arrangements of the popular songs of the day, with the growing jukebox trade in mind. During these years, he also took part in many sessions with  swing musicians such as Lester Young, Roy Eldridge,  Charlie Shavers, Red Norvo, Buck Clayton, and Ben Webster. Thirty-eight of his recordings were hits, and those are mostly chamber jazz recordings with singers such as Lena Horne, Helen Ward, Ella Fitzgerald, Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday.

Wilson formed a sextet that performed at Café Society from 1940 to 1944. There, he led jazz shows called "chamber jazz" with a dance orchestra composed of himself, Frankie Newton, Ed Hall, and Billie Holiday.  

From 1945 to 1952, Wilson taught at the Juilliard School. After that, he toured across numerous countries in Europe, including Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland.

Though he played with a lot of bebop musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie during his work as a sideman, he held on to swing vocabulary based on chord tone arpeggios and diatonic harmony.