Liner Notes

The Chicago-born pianist and composer Jack Wilson enjoyed a wide-range of musical associations including work with the likes of Dinah Washington , Sarah Vaughan , Lou Rawls , Gerald Wilson, Roy Ayers , and recording leader dates for Atlantic before he made his Blue Note debut in 1966 with the highly unique Something Personal . Easterly Winds —the second of Wilson’s three Blue Note albums and arguably his finest—found the pianist at the helm of a first-rate hard bop sextet with Lee Morgan on trumpet, Garnett Brown on trombone, Jackie McLean on alto saxophone, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The six-song set presented four Wilson originals including the groovy opener “Do It" and the sublime ballad “Nirvanna” in addition to a tender rendition of the Johnny Mandel tune “A Time for Love” and “Frank’s Tune” by Frank Strozier , which was recently reimagined by Makaya McCraven on his 2021 Blue Note remix project Deciphering the Message .