Jazz titan Pickens leaves a legacy for generations
Willie L. Pickens’ music career began when he was about 8 years old, performing a song and dance routine on street corners in Milwaukee.
It was the late 1930s, and Pickens, who grew up in the 1600 block of N. 6th St., was already turning heads for his talents as a singer, dancer and piano player.
As a boy, he was a gifted pianist who would grow up to become a world-famous jazz musician with a powerful presence in Chicago’s music scene.
“Willie Pickens was a towering figure in our city’s cultural landscape, lighting the keyboard on fire with splashy chords and lightning runs over a career that spanned more than half a century,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement following Pickens’ death on Dec. 13 at age 86.
Pickens was born in Milwaukee on April 18, 1931. Early on, it was clear that the piano was his strong suit.
“As a little boy, he would practice for hours and hours. My mother would make all of the other kids be still, or go outside and play, while he was practicing,” recalled his brother, the Rev. Lovelace Redmond of Milwaukee.
Shortly after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1955 he moved to Chicago where his jazz career took off at a blistering pace.
In Chicago he also met his wife, Irma Jean Burrell. They were married for nearly 56 years until she died in 2015, only days from their wedding anniversary.
Chicago was where Pickens bloomed, not only as a musician but also as a teacher and mentor to scores of musicians.
In 1991, Pickens was recruited by jazz artist Elvin Jones to tour internationally and record with the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine.
He traveled around the world with that band, and he played alongside legendary musicians including Sammy Davis Jr., Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack, Louie Bellson, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Clark Terry, Winton Marsalis, Bunky Green and Marian McPartland.
Pickens’ funeral was Dec. 23 in Chicago, but his family is planning a memorial for him this spring in Milwaukee.
Pickens is survived by his two daughters, Bethany and Kiron; his son, David; daughter-in-law, Nan; two grandchildren, Olivia and Selden; his brother Lovelace, and many nieces and nephews.