GEORGE WALLINGTON STORY


George Wallington was born on October 27, 1923 in Palermo, at Via Perez No. 105, and his real name is Giacinto Figlia.
In 1924, at the age of seven months he migrated to New York with his parents, Pietro Figlia and Francesca Le Quaglie.
When Giacinto reached the age of nine years began to study music with his father who, in Palermo, had been a lyrical singer, who taught him solfeggio, starting him off on the study of classical piano, to which the little boy dedicated himself with passion for not less than five hours every day before being enrolled at Vincent High School of New York.
But, at sixteen years of age, the young Figlia began to perform in jazz clubs of the Greenwich Village; here he attracted attention not only for his jazz talent but also for his elegance in getting dressed, this thing procured him the nickname of “Lord Wallington”, become later with the adding of George’s name his name of artist.

 
Even if were a remarkable piano soloist, appreciated by bigs such as Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespe, (who in 1944 had him in his first orchestra), Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, Lionel Hampton, etc., George Wallington-Figlia has a place of particular prominence in the history of jazz for his composition of famous themes of jazz, among which “Lemon Drop” (recorded in 1948 by the big band of Woody Herman) and “Godchild” (recorded in 1949 for Capitol by Miles Davis  with the famous “tuba band”); in the numerous records made under his own name stand for their originality compositions like “Festival”, “Christine”, “Baby Grand”, etc.
Beginning with the 50’s he suspended the musical activity, dedicating himself for more than 30 years to his father’s firm of air conditioners. In this period he devoted himself, in the free time to the activity of radio-amateur operating with a powerful receiving-transmitting station from his house of New York at 303 of East 37th Street, with the mark “W2DSE”. George Wallington died at Cape Coral (Miami) on February 15, 1993.