Clarinet

Edward Wilkerson Jr. is one of the great saxophone and clarinet players on the Chicago scene, but from the '80s into the new millennium may have become best known as a bandleader and composer, particularly associated with medium- to large-scale projects (somewhat daunting in an era when creative music bandleaders are challenged to keep even small ensembles together).

Born October 11, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee, Mwata Bowden came the South Side of Chicago with his family when he was ten. Following the path that generations of African-Americans had taken since the beginning of the century, Bowden's father came North looking f or better-paying work and found it at a South Side factory.