PREVIOUS GUESTS

DS Wilson

D.S. Wilson is a Top 25 multi-instrumentalist Smooth/Contemporary jazz musician currently residing in Seattle, Washington.

With four solo jazz albums completed and a fifth album underway, Wilson currently performs locally and nationally 40-50 times per year. Major festival appearances include the Chicago O’Hare Jazz Festival (twice), the Myrtle Beach Jazz Festival, the Marcus Anderson MAJACE Festival, and the Milwaukee Fresh Coast Jazz Festival.

Wilson’s first two self-produced albums “Stella Rose” (2019) and “Saxuality” (2021) captured the attention of SmoothJazz.com and in 2022, their promotional efforts have propelled me consistently into the Billboard, RadioWave, SmoothJazzNetwork and SmoothJazz.com Top 100 charts.

Shortly after teaming up with SmoothJazz.com, I attended the 2022 and 2023 Dave Koz Jazz Cruises where he was a finalist in the talent competition both years. Wilson also met artist/producer Adam Hawley and they began co-producing songs for Wilson’s third album “Skyline”, featuring two-time Grammy winner Mel Brown, Eric Valentine, Adam Hawley and Carnell Harrell. The Skyline album landed at #22 in the SmoothJazz.com Top 100 Album Chart for 2023, was twice featured by Dave Koz in his weekly radio show on SiriusXM-Watercolors.

Leveraging the momentum from his Skyline Album, Wilson teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Jeff Carruthers as well as multi-hit artist/producer Steve Oliver to complete work on his fourth album entitled “Metamorphosis”, which was released in 2025. Six of the pre-release singles from the album were consistently in the Top 100 charts throughout 2024, landing the “Metamorphosis” album at #26 in the Annual Top 100 Album Chart on SmoothJazz.com for 2024, and once again featured by Dave Koz on SiriusXM Watercolors.

Wilson is currently working on his fifth album with Jeff Carruthers. The first two advance singles from the album released in 2026 and both made it to #1 on the SmoothJazz.com Top 100 Streaming Chart and in the Top 100 Radio Charts on Billboard, RadioWave, and SmoothJazzNetwork.

My musical roots began in jazz, but has played and released multiple albums in various genres including rock, pop and blues. I started playing in rock bands in the '80s and didn't stop until well into the new millennium, logging hundreds of performances. In between then and now I won the North Carolina Battle of the Bands, was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and worked with Grammy-nominated producer John Custer on his band, Dolo's, self-titled album in the late '90s. It wasn't until after Dolo dissolved that D.S. Wilson decided to transition back to his jazz roots as a solo artist.

I started playing piano at age 7, and saxophone at age 10. Shortly thereafter, I began taking sax lessons with Pete Schofield, a prominent jazz player in Toronto. I advanced rapidly under Pete and then moved back to the US where I played in the school jazz bands all the way through high school. I continued piano lessons too, although I was focused more on the sax.

I attended NC State University as a student athlete, majoring in mechanical engineering and diving competitively on the swim team. Along the way, I met some guys in the dorm who were forming a rock band and I joined them. I ended up primarily playing keyboards with the occasional sax solo. After college, we all had day jobs, but we played together in various iterations for over 20 years and did a couple of albums together.

I was working in the corporate world to support my family, but the band re-formed again as “Dolo” in about 1995 and we produced a CD with Grammy-nominated Producer John Custer. We were doing really well and we were in talks with Columbia Records, but then the band broke up again. I felt like my dreams of being a professional musician had ended with the break-up of the band, so I started playing keyboards in church, which lasted for about 17 years. Throughout that time, I didn’t really play sax that much, and didn’t play in other bands.

I started building a recording setup in my house. From 2004-2008 I worked on my first self-produced album, entitled “Save Me”. It was more of a singer-songwriter kind of vibe. I had been going through a very difficult period in life, so the album was kind of depressing, and I never released it.

I started working on more song ideas for a third jazz album. I completed one of the songs and released it in January of 2022. A few weeks later, I got a call from Sandy Shore at SmoothJazz.com and she wanted to help me develop my career. So, I finished a second song and she helped me release it and promote it and it made it into the Top 100 charts, which was a first for me. About a month after that, I went on my first Dave Koz cruise as a vacationer, which is when I met Adam Hawley. He helped me produce the remaining song ideas and it became the Skyline album, which really launched my career.

D.S. Wilson is a Top 25 multi-instrumentalist Smooth/Contemporary jazz musician currently residing in Seattle, Washington. With four solo jazz albums completed and a fifth album underway, Wilson currently performs locally and nationally 40-50 times per year. Major festival appearances include the Chicago O’Hare Jazz Festival (twice), the Myrtle Beach Jazz Festival, the Marcus Anderson MAJACE Festival, and the Milwaukee Fresh Coast Jazz Festival. Wilson’s first two self-produced albums “Stella Rose” (2019) and “Saxuality” (2021) captured the attention of SmoothJazz.com and in 2022, their promotional efforts have propelled me consistently into the Billboard, RadioWave, SmoothJazzNetwork and SmoothJazz.com Top 100 charts. Shortly after teaming up with SmoothJazz.com, I attended the 2022 and 2023 Dave Koz Jazz Cruises where he was a finalist in the talent competition both years. Wilson also met artist/producer Adam Hawley and they began co-producing songs for Wilson’s third album “Skyline”, featuring two-time Grammy winner Mel Brown, Eric Valentine, Adam Hawley and Carnell Harrell. The Skyline album landed at #22 in the SmoothJazz.com Top 100 Album Chart for 2023, was twice featured by Dave Koz in his weekly radio show on SiriusXM-Watercolors. Leveraging the momentum from his Skyline Album, Wilson teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Jeff Carruthers as well as multi-hit artist/producer Steve Oliver to complete work on his fourth album entitled “Metamorphosis”, which was released in 2025. Six of the pre-release singles from the album were consistently in the Top 100 charts throughout 2024, landing the “Metamorphosis” album at #26 in the Annual Top 100 Album Chart on SmoothJazz.com for 2024, and once again featured by Dave Koz on SiriusXM Watercolors. Wilson is currently working on his fifth album with Jeff Carruthers. The first two advance singles from the album released in 2026 and both made it to #1 on the SmoothJazz.com Top 100 Streaming Chart and in the Top 100 Radio Charts on Billboard, RadioWave, and SmoothJazzNetwork. My musical roots began in jazz, but has played and released multiple albums in various genres including rock, pop and blues. I started playing in rock bands in the '80s and didn't stop until well into the new millennium, logging hundreds of performances. In between then and now I won the North Carolina Battle of the Bands, was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and worked with Grammy-nominated producer John Custer on his band, Dolo's, self-titled album in the late '90s. It wasn't until after Dolo dissolved that D.S. Wilson decided to transition back to his jazz roots as a solo artist. I started playing piano at age 7, and saxophone at age 10. Shortly thereafter, I began taking sax lessons with Pete Schofield, a prominent jazz player in Toronto. I advanced rapidly under Pete and then moved back to the US where I played in the school jazz bands all the way through high school. I continued piano lessons too, although I was focused more on the sax. I attended NC State University as a student athlete, majoring in mechanical engineering and diving competitively on the swim team. Along the way, I met some guys in the dorm who were forming a rock band and I joined them. I ended up primarily playing keyboards with the occasional sax solo. After college, we all had day jobs, but we played together in various iterations for over 20 years and did a couple of albums together. I was working in the corporate world to support my family, but the band re-formed again as “Dolo” in about 1995 and we produced a CD with Grammy-nominated Producer John Custer. We were doing really well and we were in talks with Columbia Records, but then the band broke up again. I felt like my dreams of being a professional musician had ended with the break-up of the band, so I started playing keyboards in church, which lasted for about 17 years. Throughout that time, I didn’t really play sax that much, and didn’t play in other bands. I started building a recording setup in my house. From 2004-2008 I worked on my first self-produced album, entitled “Save Me”. It was more of a singer-songwriter kind of vibe. I had been going through a very difficult period in life, so the album was kind of depressing, and I never released it. I started working on more song ideas for a third jazz album. I completed one of the songs and released it in January of 2022. A few weeks later, I got a call from Sandy Shore at SmoothJazz.com and she wanted to help me develop my career. So, I finished a second song and she helped me release it and promote it and it made it into the Top 100 charts, which was a first for me. About a month after that, I went on my first Dave Koz cruise as a vacationer, which is when I met Adam Hawley. He helped me produce the remaining song ideas and it became the Skyline album, which really launched my career.