Wilby Fletcher

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Wilby Fletcher
Birth nameWilbert Fletcher
Born (1954-10-18) October 18, 1954 (age 70)
Wilmington, Delaware
DiedOctober 15, 2009(2009-10-15) (aged 54)
Wilmington, Delaware
GenresJazz
InstrumentDrums
Formerly of McCoy Tyner Quintet

Wilbert "Wilby" Fletcher was an American jazz drummer. [1]

Contents

Early life

Fletcher began playing drums at the age of four, attended the George Gray Elementary School in Wilmington and graduated from the P.S. DuPont High School. He then studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Already at the age of 15 he started working as a professional drummer. [2]

Career

In the 1970s he succeeded Alphonse Mouzon in McCoy Tyner's band, with whom he made their first appearance at The Jazz Showcase in Chicago without having rehearsed first. He has also worked with Ron Carter, Grover Washington Jr., Charles Fambrough, Lonnie Liston Smith, Bobby Watson and the violinist John Blake, on whose albums Maiden Dance and A Twinkling of an Eye he contributed; he also appeared with Michel Petrucciani, Roy Ayers and Harry Belafonte. [2]

Later years

For several years Fletcher was house drummer at Trump Castle in Atlantic City, New Jersey and worked for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company in New York City. [3] Worked in the field of jazz Fletcher with 31 recording sessions between 1974 and 2007.

Legacy

In 2018, a street in Wilmington, Delaware was named after Wilby Fletcher. [4]

Discography

Per AllMusic.com [5]

With Roy Ayers

With McCoy Tyner

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References

  1. "City News | Wilmington, DE". www.wilmingtonde.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  2. 1 2 Burrage, Ronnie (January 2010). "Wilby Fletcher". Cadence . 36 (1–3): 56.
  3. Obituary in JazzTimes
  4. "Wilbert 'Wilby' B. Fletcher Is Honored With Ceremonial Street Sub-naming In Northeast Wilmington". US State News . October 10, 2018 via Proquest.
  5. "Wilby Fletcher Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-09-22.