Performance · Production

Fred Wesley

Columbus, United States · b. 1943-07-04

Fred Wesley is credited on 2,363 releases across 729 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1969–2026 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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Photo of Fred Wesley

2,363

Credits

729

Albums

7

Decades active

977

In collections

Biography

source

Showing the Discogs bio

US trombonist
Fred Wesley was born in 1943, the son of a high school teacher and big band leader. Like Alfred Pee Wee Ellis, his first love was jazz, until he joined the Ike and Tina Turner Revue in 1962. A brief period with Hank Ballard and the Midnighters and Army service preceded his first term with James Brown and his original band (1968-70); a brief Los Angeles period led to a second stint (1971-75) with the Godfather of Soul eventually leading The J.B.'s, after its original line-up including Bootsy Collins left in 1971; the versatile trombonist then went on to featured roles with George Clinton as both a member of Funkadelic and leader of Horny Horns); he joined the Count Basie Orchestra as Al Grey's replacement in the late 1980s.

Bio from Discogs

Credited work

2,363 releases · 729 albums · active 1969–2026

  • Performance · 3,949
  • Production · 161
  • Other credits · 73
  • Engineering · 4

Studios: United Sound Systems · Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · Sound Ideas Studios · A&R Studios

Discography

Records they worked on — most-collected first.

Frequent collaborators

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