Juice Wilson

One of the only jazzmen whose nickname commonly shows up on backstage riders, Robert "Juice" Wilson was at 14 years old already performing with bandleaders such as trumpeter Freddie Keppard. He had been orphaned 11 years earlier, an uncle in Chicago stepping in to raise the lad in a suitably swinging environment. Musically, Wilson's first move was to play drums in the intimidating-sounding Chicago ...more