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Professor Gerald Wilson was honored at the UCLA Friends of Jazz Gale on Sunday, Sept. 12.

Conductor Gerald Wilson flung his arms in the air on Sept. 12 as his big band belted out the last refrain of his famous composition “Viva Tirado.” He held them there for bar after bar, while his curly white hair danced under the lights of Schoenberg Hall. The audience was hooting like kids at a rock concert. Then his arms flew down and the band ended on one clear note. The distinguished conductor-composer turned around, grinning, enjoying the zenith of an exciting day.

Minutes before, Wilson had been presented with four awards by UCLA Friends of Jazz, the Department of Ethnomusicology, the dean’s office of the School of Arts and Architecture, and the California State Assembly. All afternoon, he had been socializing with old friends, many of whom are jazz greats like Gerald Wiggins, Snooky Young, Nancy Wilson, James Moody, Hubert Laws and Horace Silver. All of these people had come out to support Friends of Jazz and celebrate Wilson’s 86th birthday.

“That is one of the greatest times of my life, when your peers appreciate what you’ve done. It was a great day for me,” Wilson said.

An extraordinary musician and charismatic bandleader, Wilson certainly deserved such recognition. He has been nominated for five Grammy awards, and even had his life’s work archived by the Library of Congress. As a UCLA professor, fellow jazz professor and producer of the Friends of Jazz Gala Kenny Burrell said that Wilson has inspired thousands of students, some of whom will be jazz musicians, and others who will be all-important fans.

“Gerald Wilson is a great role model of someone who has succeeded and loves what he is doing,” Burrell said. “He’s a good example of some steps to follow in terms of following your passion.”

Wilson’s birthday drew hundreds of patrons, raising funds for Friends of Jazz. The hearty profits will go to much-needed equipment for the jazz department, guest lectures and the newly established Gerald Wilson scholarship for new students.

“I’m being rewarded for what I’ve been trying to do,” Wilson said. “This is a great feeling. It means you’re successful at what you’re doing. And by success we mean that the music is good, because if I had a billion dollars and my music was bad, it wouldn’t mean anything to me because the music is what’s important.”

The conductor-composer is not showing signs of slowing down. He continues to conduct, teach and record, despite occasional corporal malfunctions which can be expected of his age. Three years ago, at the Chicago Jazz Festival, his retina snapped, rendering him blind.

“We were walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago and all of a sudden I couldn’t see any faces!” Wilson laughed.

But with or without the use of his eyes, the determined conductor pushed on through a dynamic performance of his original compositions. Later, UCLA doctors helped him regain most of his vision, but he had to give up conducting the UCLA orchestra because he couldn’t read the scores.

He still teaches a widely popular class for the UCLA ethnomusicology department, which packs Schoenberg Hall with 480 students each quarter. Even after teaching for over 40 years – 13 at UCLA – Wilson delivers what most students consider enthusiastic lectures. In class, he channels the same type of energy as he does during performances, dancing around stage, clapping his hands together and punching the air to emphasize the listening selections.

“(Wilson) is a very animated person,” said fifth-year ethnomusicology student and guest pianist for Wilson’s tribute Jeff Goodkind. “The coolest thing about being in his class is just to be in his presence. He has seen most of the development of jazz and played with and befriended all of the major jazz musicians. He’s got a wealth of stories to tell. To be in his class and to listen to those stories from a first hand perspective, to me, is so valuable. It makes the music so alive.”

In his classes, Wilson teaches his students how to listen to jazz by pointing out the complexities in the orchestration.

“I don’t just let the music play and stand there. I tell (my students) what this guy is doing now, listen to what is happening here with the drummer, what’s going on with the bass,” said Wilson. “You’ve got to listen to everything.”

After teaching the same thing year after year, Wilson hasn’t grown bored. He plans to keep going as long as he can.

“I enjoy every minute of it,” he said. “What more could I ask for?”

He continues to compose – now with computer software such as MIDI because of his sight problems – drawing on inspiration from people, places and things that he loves. He said that it’s due time that he write a song about his friends at UCLA.

“I tell you, after last night, I should write something for them,” said Wilson. “I’ll put that on my list. I’ll have to start a list. After all they gave me. I couldn’t believe that. It was so nice, the chancellor was there, the dean. What the heck, I’ll do something to show my appreciation musically.”