| 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 which landed her a lengthy contract with Capitol records starting with her 1959 debut. 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 Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, "The Nancy Wilson Show." By 1979 her star had dimmed when she decided to try her hand at disco. Her Capitol 12" single of "Life, Love And Harmony" is quite good in retrospect but at the time it garnered no chart action or club play. Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the 1980's, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Ramsey Lewis, and Benny Golson. By the 1990's, 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. She has released several albums in the new millenium all to critcal acclaim. |
