Information/Write-up
Wilkins, Rick (Herbert Richard). Arranger, composer, conductor, tenor saxophonist, b Hamilton, Ont, 1 Feb 1937. After early experience as a saxophonist and/or arranger with the dance bands of Jack Ryan (El Morocco, Hamilton) and Gav Morton (Brant Inn, Burlington), he moved in 1957 to Toronto. There he played in the dance bands of Benny Louis and others, and in 1960 began arranging music for the CBC orchestra of Jack Kane.
Wilkins studied arranging briefly with Phil Nimmons at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto and thereafter made his living primarily in that field. He has prepared and often conducted music for CBC and CTV pop-music and variety series and specials, with Julie Amato, Tommy Ambrose, Guido Basso, Canadian Brass, Burton Cummings, Anne Murray, Wayne and Shuster, and others. For CBS TV, Los Angeles, he was music director 1976-7 for a series and several specials starring the US singing group the Jackson Five. He scored Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite for a CBC TV presentation in 1979, and later arranged and conducted Peterson's compositions on record (The Personal Touch, Royal Wedding Suite) and in concert (eg, for Bach 300 in Toronto in 1985 and the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988).
Wilkins also has written arrangements for recordings by Peter Appleyard (including Swing Fever), Salome Bey, Ed Bickert, Maureen Forrester, Vic Franklyn, Hagood Hardy, Maxwell King, Moe Koffman, Gene Lees, Anne Murray (including 'Snowbird' and several LPs), Ginette Reno, and Arlene Smith. His own LPs include Christmas with Rick Wilkins and the Mutual Understanding (1970, CBC LM-80), My Heart Belongs to Me (1977, CTL CTLS-5210/New Ventures NV-5003), For the Sake of Music (1978, CTL CTLS-5219; issued commercially as Quiessence, Pickwick PC-66001), and Discovery (1981, CTL CTLS-5238/Intercan IC-1018). Wilkins arrangements also have been recorded by the (US) Louis Bellson and the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut big bands. His compositions include scores for CBC TV dramas (eg, 'The Dumbells,' 1976) and documentaries, music for the opening ceremonies of the Calgary Winter Olympics, and jazz themes recorded by Koffman, (Saturn), the Boss Brass (Greenhouse, Who Asked?), Rob McConnell (Greenhouse, Countless Blues), and the (US) Frank Wess Orchestra (Rink Rat, Pit Pat Blues). His symphonic-jazz composition T.O. 150 was commissioned in 1984 for the Boss Brass and the CJRT (Toronto Philharmonic) Orchestra.
Wilkins has played in Toronto studio orchestras and has been a member of the Boss Brass, Nimmons 'N' Nine Plus Six, and other jazz bands. He has led or (with Bickert) co-led bands on occasion in Toronto clubs and appears as a soloist on albums by Appleyard, Bickert, the Boss Brass, McConnell, Nimmons, and an all-star (and otherwise US) septet recorded at the Concord Jazz Festival in California (Live at the 1990 Concord Jazz Festival - Second Set, Concord Jazz CJ-4452). Wilkins' standing as one of Canada's foremost arrangers has left his jazz work, in an effortless mainstream style, undeservedly overshadowed.
-thecanadianencyclopedia.com
Production
Produced by Rick Wilkins
Assistant Producer: Pete Pederson
Executive Producer: Jackie Rae
Engineered by Peter Mann
Consultant: Bill Osborne
Cover Art by Katherine Yaremko
Recorded and mixed at Eastern Sound, Toronto
Songwriting
“Don’t Ask Me Why” written by Billy Joel
“Discovery” written by Pete Pederson
“Savin’ It Up” written by Randy Goodrum
“Deja Vu” written by J. Hayes, A. Anderson
“You Can Have Me Anytime” written by Boz Scaggs
“Holiday” written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
“Portrait of a Young Lady” written by Rick Wilkins
“I Could Have Been a Sailor” written by Peter Allen
“Without Your Love” written by Jeff Wayne
“With a Little Luck” written by Paul McCartney
“If You Remember Me” written by Carole Bayer Sager, Marvin Hamlisch
“Someone I Used to Love” written by Michael Masser, Gerry Goffin
Notes
℗ 1981 Canadian Talent Library
All selections ℗ except ★
Canadian Talent Library Trust copyright
Broadcast and public performance controlled by CTL
38 Yorkville Avenue, 2nd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W 1L5
Distributed in Canada by Pickwick Records, a division of American Can Canada, Inc.,
180 Station Street, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1S 1R9
Liner notes
CKDS / Stereo 95 has taken real pleasure in working with the Canadian Talent Library to produce this album, Hamilton Ontario’s contribution to the Canadian music scene. It has been a labour of love and a REAL DISCOVERY.
The act of DISCOVERY is an exciting experience. Whether it be the joy a child finds in examining a flower or the fascination and awe inspired by the striking vistas of our country.
Canada is a land of diverse beauty where nature never fails to amaze.
In our title tune, DISCOVERY, composer Pete Pederson captures the essence of this surprising country. The song is rich in sweep and scope, picking us up off a peaceful rural road and whooshing us along town lines and trunk lines, over grain seas and ragged shorelines, into cities of excitement and back again. A thrill ride like no other.
Our other selections share the same masterful production and arrangement qualities and feature some of the top instrumental artists in Canada.
Another original composition deserves special mention. Portrait Of A Young Lady, penned by Rick Wilkins, is a poignant glimpse of that unforgettable young charmer who has been a part of many of our lives. Haunting, tender, a passionate tug at our memory.
LISTEN . . . . . . . . . . . . AND DISCOVER.
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