NPR's Jazz Profiles

NPR's Jazz Profiles - Nancy Wilson (Photo Credit: John Levy Enterprises, Inc.)

NPR's Jazz Profiles is a weekly one-hour documentary series profiling the people, places and things in jazz. Hosted by legendary jazz singer Nancy Wilson (left), the program brings to life the vibrant history of jazz through music, interviews and commentary. You can hear Jazz Profiles Tuesday nights at 7:00 on Jazz88.

The online versions of each Jazz Profiles show -- our online show summaries -- offer brief biographies of featured artists, selected audio clips of show interviews, playlists of songs heard during the show, and when available, photographs and links to further information at NPRJazz.org or elsewhere on the Web.

Official Website: Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson

Biography

Nancy Wilson has hosted NPR's Jazz Profiles, radio's first and only jazz documentary series, since its debut in 1996. An Emmy and Grammy Award winner, Wilson is a vocalist and all-around performer. She has performed with a wide range of stellar entertainers from Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstein, Cannonball Adderley and Louis Jordan to LaVerne Baker, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Ruth Brown. In the seventeen years she has been with Capitol Records, she has had over thirty albums on the Billboard charts and produced a slew of hit records such as Tell Me The Truth, How Glad I Am, Peace Of Mind, and Now, I'm A Woman. She continues to tour and record and releases her 60th album on the Columbia label in 1997.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Nancy earned a reputation as an acclaimed entertainer through her live performances and television appearances, including a stint with her own Emmy Award-winning NBC-TV series, The Nancy Wilson Show, a music variety series which guest-starred the best performers of the era. She also appeared on other variety shows including The Flip Wilson Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and the Andy Williams Show. In addition, she has appeared on other major television shows such as The Tonight Show, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars, and The Arsenio Hall Show. Wilson also had recurring roles on The Cosby Show and the Fox sitcom Sinbad. Fans may recognize her distinctive voice on the national television commercials for Infinity cars.