Sule Greg C. Wilson

“AMERICAN GRIOT”

Dancer, percussionist, banjoist and storyteller, Sule Greg Wilson has been an American Griot all his life, learning family lore at the feet of maternal grandfather T. Montgomery Gregory, founder/director of Howard University’s first theater company, the Howard Players.  Wilson performed with the Oya African Dancers and Drummers through Junior and Senior High School, played jazz and studied Asian percussion at Oberlin College, and received a Bachelors in TV Production and an MA in History/Certificate in Archival Management, Historical Editing and Manuscript Conservation from New York University. Wilson has worked as a historical consultant/archivist at the New York Stock Exchange; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; the World Bank; the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History; the Delta Blues Museum; the documentary films Give Me the Banjo and Chasin Gus’ Ghost; and Phoenix, AZ’s Pueblo Grande Museum.

Wilson’s work as a historian has enriched his work on stage as a percussionist, banjoist, dancer, actor and ukulelist.  He has performed and/or recorded with Babatunde Olatunji; the International African American Ballet; the Copasetics; the Carolina Chocolate Drops; Mike Seeger; Abraham Laboriel; Cheikh Hamala Diabate; Peter Rowan; Laura Love; John Sebastian; Kaimikahu Hale O Hula; Conjunto de Colores; Tony Trischka; Guy Davis; Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer; the Myth Mob; Tramor; Ruthie Foster; Keith Secola; the Art of Black Dance and Music; Ronstadt Generations, and more.

This modern "Edu-Tainer"/American Griot has spread the word from Ghana to Hawaii, Mexico to Ireland, Mississippi to Minnesota and Juneau to Miami Beach.  His music has graced the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Grammy-winning CD, Genuine Negro Jig, as well as film scores and the theater. He has written and published books and songs, produced CDs and an instructional DVD.  He currently resides in San Diego, California with his lovely wife.