Skip Wilkins was born and raised in eastern Massachusetts. He grew up in a musical home and began listening to jazz at a very early age. His father played drums locally, so Skip was able to interact with professional musicians as a small child. He first found his way to the stage in kindergarten and has not left the stage since. In many ways his earliest experiences have proved the most enduring. He learned to love singing and listening to subtle harmonies before entering school, taking particular delight in the Great American songbook repertoire of such composers as Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin and others of the first half of the twentieth century. Also drawn to syncopated rhythms and polyrhythms of jazz recordings that he heard at home, it is readily apparent that the seeds of his future style were already planted in pre-school. Many years later, a seasoned professional pianist, Skip is noted for his lyricism, fascination with harmonic color, boundless rhythmic energy, and interest in exploring songs from the Great American Songbook.



Skip has been fortunate to play with luminaries and un-sung local players wherever he has lived. As he was coming up in Boston, he worked with drummers Joe Hunt and Bob Moses and with saxophonists Jimmy Mosher and John LaPorta. In Denver, where he established his style, Skip was a well-known figure regionally, and often performed with the marquee players when they visited the area. These included saxophonist Plas Johnson, vocalists Mark Murphy and Darmon Meader, trumpeter Conte Candoli, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Peter Erskine. He also made his first recording, Two Much Fun!,on Eaglear Records, as co-leader with flutist Jill Allen. While in the Rocky Mountain region, he toured the West with various groups and performed regularly at all the established jazz clubs, including the famous El Chapultepec. He also performed countless times at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where he taught during his eight years in Colorado.

Relocated to eastern Pennsylvania in 1995, Skip resumed his performing career on the east coast with the Wilkins & Allen Quartet. In 2001 on Cathexis Records, Skip and Jill Allen released Petty Theft,which featured guest performances by Grammy-nominated saxophonist David Liebman. He also continued to perform in concert with all-stars, including saxophonists David Sánchez, Stanley Turrentine and Bobby Watson, trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Al Grey, and drummer T.S. Monk. Of course, right in his backyard Skip periodically performs with Philadelphia legends Mickey Roker, Larry McKenna and John Swana, among many others. Skip plays all of the great regional jazz venues, including Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus and Chris’s Jazz Café, both in Philadelphia, and Delaware Water Gap’s Deer Head Inn.

In 2005, Skip formed a new working ensemble, Skip Wilkins Quintet. Together they recorded eighteen of his original compositions, for release on two CDs. The first, Skip Wilkins Quintet: Volume I, wasreleased in September of 2006 on Dreambox Media (DMJ-1101).  

They followed up, in April 2007, with the release is Volume II on Dreambox Media (DMJ-1104). Group members include bassist Tony Marino and drummer Gary Rissmiller, with whom he has been performing and touring for over a decade; guitarist Tom Kozic, with whom he has given concerts for eight years; and relative newcomer tenor saxophonist Paul Kendall. Skip is a prolific composer and he has been on a tear with CD releases in 2006, 2007 and 2008!

Dreambox Media released Skip Wilkins Solo--Live at Lafayette (DMJ-1109) on August 14, 2007.  Skip had been thinking about recording some solo piano music.  While considering repertoire, he came across an archival live concert recording from a performance he gave at Lafayette College on September 16, 2000.  There was no need to record right away--this one was already in the can!  The recording features some of Skip's compositions and also pieces by Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, George Gershwin and Frederic Chopin.  As ever, his playing ranges from lyrical to edgy, often turning unexpectedly.  No wonder his music is playing on the airwaves, coast-to-coast.

Skip’s latest recording, The Paint-Peeler, released on Dreambox Media (DMJ-1117) in August 2008, features the Skip Wilkins Quintet. For this outing, the band returned to the Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College for another live-remote recording. Engineer Jim McGee captured a new set of pieces written expressly for members of the ensemble. Whereas Volume I and Volume II featured pieces that were adapted for the group, Skip wrote all the music on The Paint-Peeler for Paul Kendall, Tom Kozic, Tony Marino and Gary Rissmiller—and Skip Wilkins. It is an especially edgy recording. While Skip doesn’t discard his lyrical voice, numerous pieces emphasize the rumbling musical interaction Skip has with Marino and Rissmiller, with great solos from every member of the ensemble. John Vanore’s mixing and mastering touch is unmistakable, as is Kathy Ridl’s production design.

Since Skip relocated to the east coast, he has continued to tour around the United States and in Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic as a soloist and as part of various groups. Some noteworthy European performances have included the Karel Velebny Institute in Frydlant, Czech Republic; as soloist with the Big Band Ceského Rozhlasu (Czech Radio) at the International Prazke Jaro (Prague Spring) Music Festival; Prague jazz clubs, including Agartha Jazz Centrum, U Malého Glena and U Stare Paní; Czech Republic concert venues in Frydlant, Plzen, Cesky Krumlov, Pardubice, Brno, and Ostrava; and television and radio broadcasts in the Czech Republic. In the United States, performances include Bethlehem, PA's Musikfest; NYC’s Tavern on the Green and Cleopatra’s Needle; The Wichita Jazz Festival, where the Wilkins & Allen Quartet served as Artists-in-Residence; and The Blue Room at the Kansas City Jazz Museum. Skip also gave performances at the University of North Texas, Williams College, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, and at other venues in Arizona, Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Nearer to his home, Skip has performed often at Muhlenberg College, Moravian College and at Lafayette College, where he is Associate Professor of Music.

Skip's recordings and performances have always received critical acclaim, and since its release in September 2006, Volume I has received lots of positive attention. In 2001 he received a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He was given the award for excellence in jazz composition. Many of the compositions for which he was recognized were included on Petty Theft.

Skip also has numerous other regional associations. He’s heard monthly in the Lehigh Valley with the Tony Gairo-Gary Rissmiller Jazz Orchestra and is prominently featured on the Orchestra’s 2006 release, Treacherous, on Seabreeze Jazz Records. He also performs and records with The Trio, an ensemble featuring bassist Roy Cumming and drummer Glenn Davis. For nine straight years, Skip has given a monthly salon performance at the Blue Orchid Inn in nearby Mertztown, Pennsylvania. For most performances, he invites a guest to perform with him, but occasionally performs solo. Blue Orchid Inn is an exceptional, intimate spot to see and hear jazz, with exquisite food and a loyal clientele that returns for the experience each month.

Skip studied jazz composition and arranging with Herb Pomeroy at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and is a former faculty member at Berklee. He also studied and taught under Gene Aitken at the University of Northern Colorado.

 

Skip has been teaching at various levels for more than twenty years, including college and university classroom work, high school ensemble directing, artist-in-residence engagements, master classes and clinics, and one-on-one applied instruction. He has worked at every level of learners, from young children through post-doctoral fellows.

From 1987-1995, while Skip performed throughout the Rocky Mountain West, he taught jazz theory and improvisation and later 18th and 19th century music theory at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. He initially headed west from his native New England to pursue the master of music degree in music theory and composition, expecting to be there two years. Two years turned into eight after he was hired by the university. UNC is home to a critically-acclaimed jazz studies program. While teaching in the program, Skip developed a teaching style that is based on the philosophy of comprehensive musicianship. Then as now, whether teaching 18th century-style part-writing and solfeggio or altered dominant seventh chords, Skip integrates learning strategies. His theory and improvisation courses feature written theory, keyboard skill development, solfeggio and aural training exercises.

In 1995, Skip decided to head back East and work on his performing career close to the large metropolitan jazz centers of New York and Philadelphia. He spent the first few years engaged in developing his career and planting seeds for future opportunities, performing constantly and touring with a variety of ensembles. Shortly thereafter, the local colleges invited him to work part-time. For about five years, Skip taught at Muhlenberg College in Allentown and Moravian College in Bethlehem. After a brief interruption, he continued his long association with Moravian. A new part-time opportunity at Lafayette College in Easton turned into a permanent full-time position shortly thereafter, and Skip continues there as Associate Professor of Music. He teaches music theory at all levels, plus courses in jazz history. Among his favorite courses is “Jazz and Social Questions,” a first-year seminar. Though he has a full teaching schedule, Skip has a surprisingly active performing schedule.

 

 



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