When Dr. Taylor first heard Steve Wilson with the group Out of the Blue, the young saxophonist's mature tone and fiery creativity floored him. Pianist Chick Corea heard something special, too, and gave Wilson his first big break. Since touring and recording with Corea, Dave Holland and many others, Steve Wilson has become a voice that commands attention. And command attention he does, as Wilson joins Dr. Taylor for a set of jazz favorites at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater.

Wilson opens the program with an upbeat "Love for Sale," lightly skating through the Cole Porter melody but adding just a hint of Maceo Parker to make it funky.

Wilson tells Dr. Taylor that he grew up in Hampton, Virginia -- a fertile musical community. "Everybody in my neighborhood played music and basketball," he jokes. A singer and music aficionado, Wilson's father introduced him to jazz. In the family record collection, Wilson found Ahmad Jamal's Live at the Pershing and fell in love with the pianist's light touch and subtle phrasing. Wilson also heard lots of funk and R & B as a teenager and played in local garage bands before going professional.

In the late 1980s, a twenty-something Wilson moved to New York and joined a scene brimming with talented young players. Sitting in at the Village Vanguard and the now-defunct Village Gate, he realized he had a lot to learn. "There were guys my age who knew a million tunes, so that got me doing my homework," he says.

There were also after-hours jam sessions in which musicians would spur each other to work harder. Wilson picked up much of his repertoire including Thelonious Monk's "In Walked Bud," during this period. He performs the bop classic with the trio and lets Dr. Taylor take the first solo.

Wilson mostly plays alto and soprano saxophones but also doubles on flute and clarinet. After 27 years with the instruments, he says the alto is the harder of the two. "It's a difficult instrument to master," he says, "I'm just beginning to break through and find my voice."

Wilson surprisingly names some tenor men, including Eddie Harris and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, as his main influences. But he still has a special place in his heart for alto players such as Jackie McLean who have been great teachers -- on record, from the concert stage, and in the classroom.

After gliding through a beautiful version of "Star Eyes," Wilson tells the audience that he began playing the saxophone when he was only 12 years old. An early start is important, he says, because it draws in kids who would otherwise be lost to the distractions of television, movies, and the Internet.

"We really need to get the music in the ears of children, so they will appreciate that this music is part of their history," he says. The audience applauds in agreement, and Wilson kicks off Billy Strayhorn's ballad "Chelsea Bridge." Originally a feature for alto great Johnny Hodges, the tune lets Wilson show off his silky tone and precise intonation.

An audience member from India asks Wilson whether jazz has become rigid, like Western classical music, or retained its improvisational nature. He says it's always a combination of the two sides: understanding the technical elements of the music and then finding a personal voice. But he maintains that jazz is still an oral tradition. "It is learned with your peers," he says.

Wilson has had the good fortune of performing with exceptional peers like Chick Corea and Dave Holland, who have encouraged him to find his own voice within that oral tradition. And he lets his musical personality shine as the ensemble closes the show with Tadd Dameron's "Hot House."