Softly with Feeling

the long version

In this biography the author tells trumpeter Joe Wilder's remarkable story, from his growing up in working-class Philadelphia to becoming one of the first 1,000 black Marines during World War II, and his achievements in the worlds of jazz, classical, and popular music. Wilder is also known as a pioneer who broke down racial barriers, the first African American to hold a principal chair in a broadway show orchestra, and one of the first Afican Americans to join a network studio orchestra. Reminiscences by Wilder and his colleagues, including renowned Philadelphia-area musicians Jimmy Heath and Buddy DeFranco place Wilder's experiences within a broader context of American musical and social history.