Theodore Shaw “Teddy” Wilson was born in Austin, Texas on November 24, 1912. His parents were both teachers and they left Austin to move to Talladega, AL in 1918 where they both taught at Tuskegee College.

Wilson studied music at Tuskegee Institute and at Talldega College. After college Wilson and his brother, Gus, moved to Toledo, Ohio where they started playing with Speed Webb. In 1933, Wilson went to New York to play with Benny Carter’s Chocolate Dandies. In 1935, he started playing with Benny Goodman. He was the first African-American to be featured in Goodman’s band.

Here’s a performance from 1967.