Gerald Wiggins was a jazz pianist and organist. He studied classical, but switched to jazz in his teens. He began as a professional playing accompaniment to Stepin Fetchit

Stepin Fetchit

Stepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry....

. He worked with Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

 and Benny Carter

Benny Carter

Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...

. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 where he played music for television and film. He also worked with singers like Lena Horne

Lena Horne

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...

, Kay Starr

Kay Starr

Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....

, Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...

, Lou Rawls

Lou Rawls

Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...

, Jimmy Witherspoon

Jimmy Witherspoon

Jimmy Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.-Early life and career:James Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. He first attracted attention singing with Teddy Weatherford's band in Calcutta, India, which made regular radio broadcasts over the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service during...

 and Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt

Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...

. In 1960 his best recording as an organist appeared, Wiggin' Out, known for the quality of its music and fresh, clear -like live- sound. He recorded only another LP at the organ with saxophonist Teddy Edwards

Teddy Edwards

Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...

.

He was perhaps best known for his trio, the other two members being Andy Simpkins

Andy Simpkins

Andy Simpkins was an American jazz bassist.Born Andrew Simpkins in Richmond, Indiana, he first became known as a member of the group The Three Sounds, with which he performed from 1956 to 1968. After that, until 1974, he was a member of pianist George Shearing's group, and from 1979 to 1989 toured...

 and Paul Humphrey

Paul Humphrey

Paul Nelson Humphrey is an American jazz and funk/R+B drummer.He worked as a session drummer in the 1960s for jazz artists such as Wes Montgomery, Les McCann, Kai Winding, Charles Mingus, Lee Konitz, Blue Mitchell and Gene Ammons.As a bandleader, he recorded under the name Paul Humphrey and the...

. He also appeared in an episode of 227

227 (TV series)

227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2107863/ and an episode of Moesha

Moesha

Moesha is an American sitcom series that aired on the UPN network from January 23, 1996 to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Mitchell, a high school student living with her family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles.-Overview:The show...

http://www.tv.com/gerald-wiggins/person/17453/summary.html, in both cases he played a pianist.

He was sometimes called "The Wig" and his son J. J. Wiggins (now known as Hassan Shakur) is a bassist.

Wiggins died on July 13, 2008, aged 86.

As leader

• Wiggin' with Wig (1956) Dig
• Relax and enjoy it! (1956) Contemporary
• Reminiscin' with Wig (1957) Fresh Sound
• The King and I (1957) Challenge
• Music from "Around the world in 90 days" in modern jazz (1957) Specialty
• Wiggin' out (1960) Hi-Fi Jazz (as organist)
• Memory Lane (1964) Ava
• Wig is here (1977) Black and Blue
• A beautiful friendship (1977) Black and Blue
• Live at Maybeck Recital Hall (1990) Concord
• Soulidarity (1995) Concord

External links

• BBC Radio 2
• [ All Music]