Top 5 Jazz Connections to Brian Wilson

1. From the age of 14, Wilson was heavily influenced by the vocal harmonies of popular jazz a cappella group The Four Freshman, using that inspiration to create the basis of the Beach Boys’ distinctive vocal sound
2. Jazz composition and theory had a big influence on Wilson’s expansive masterpiece Smile, and his composition “Busy Doin’ Nothin’” from the 1968 Beach Boys album Friends was directly inspired by the bossa nova of João Gilberto and Stan Getz
3. Jazz artists including Brad Mehldau, Charles Lloyd, Jason Moran, Eliane Elias, Larry Goldings, the Yellowjackets, Don Grusin, and many others have covered Wilson’s influential compositions
4. Blue Note Records head Don Was produced and directed the 1997 Brian Wilson documentary I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times, produced Wilson’s 1995 album of the same name and contributed to his latest release, No Pier Pressure
5. Wilson’s 2010 release, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, contains his interpretations of George Gershwin’s timeless compositions – songs that were heavily influenced by jazz and have become standards of the jazz canon. The recording reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart

Brian Wilson performs at Davies Symphony Hall on Friday, September 11 with fellow Beach Boys members Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin. Click here for more information. 

News+Happenings: August 2, 2012

Highlights include:

• Congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, many familiar faces from shows gone by and upcoming!
• Nonesuch Records announced the release of Brad Mehldau Trio's companion disc to this past spring's Ode, titled Where Do You Start. Album out on September 18th.
• TUNE IN: NPR Music will be webcasting the Newport Jazz Festival in its entirety over the weekend.
• Art Imitates Life, And Vice Versa in the world of trumpeter and bandleader Christian Scott.
• The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis set from Marciac is now available for your viewing pleasure.
• Love 'em or hate 'em, jazz upstarts BADBADNOTGOOD's album BBNG2 topped LA Weekly's "The Five Most Overlooked Albums of 2012 So Far".
• According to WIRED Magazine, the cosmic sounds of Meklit Hadero's CopperWire project are coming to mobile app near you.