Abram Wilson was born in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, in 1973 and grew up in New Orleans. Introduced to jazz by his guitar playing father Willie C. Jr. and musically inclined mother Doris, Wilson took up the drums as a child. He started playing the trumpet at age nine and entered the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts at age 13 (where he was mentored by Clyde Kerr Jr., and worked with Lester Wright at O. Perry Walker High School), graduating from both schools in 1991. Attending Ohio Wesleyan University and studying classical trumpet with Larry Griffin, he earned a B.A. in Music Education, then headed for the Eastman School of Music in upstate New York where he studied with Ralph Alessi and earned his master's degree. Moving to New York City briefly, he was a member of fellow trumpeter Roy Hargrove's big band, and accompanied Ruth Brown. He expatriated to London in 2002. There he collaborated with Gary Crosby, Soweto Kinch, Denys Baptiste, Patrick Clahar, and the Jamaica Jazz All Stars; he also led his own groups. He taught at various venues in England, and co-led Tomorrow's Warriors. In 2006 he won the jazz category at the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee. Wilson's sound was a mix of modern jazz and blues with distinct hip-hop influences and theatrical nuance. Sadly, in June 2012 he died of cancer in London at the young age of 38. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi