But Doug Richards, already much-honored for his work leading the acclaimed jazz program in VCU's School of the Arts, is modest about his work on the self-titled album by Anthony Wilson.

"I was there to help in the rehearsal and the production of the recording," Richards said. "I reviewed scores, made a few little suggestions here and there." Those efforts also included helping to conduct the musicians during their big band studio recording.

The album, produced for the MAMA Foundation in Los Angeles, is competing with four others in the Grammy's large-ensemble jazz category. The awards will be presented during a Feb. 25 national telecast.

Richards co-produced "Anthony Wilson" with Doug Evans, director of the MAMA Foundation, and Wilson himself. This is the first album Richards has produced outside his university work.

Richards traces his work with Wilson to nearly a decade ago when the VCU jazz professor served on the faculty at the Sandpoint, Idaho, summer music festival. Wilson is a guitarist, arranger, composer and "truly one of the most outstanding young guitarists in the world of jazz and, in my opinion, probably one of the two leading young jazz composer/arrangers that I know of," said Richards, whose teaching expertise was recognized last fall when he received VCU's highest honor in this field, the Distinguished Teaching Award.

The birth of such talent in Wilson wasn't surprising for Richards, who was familiar with the legendary accomplishments of his former student's father, Gerald Wilson. The elder Wilson led a prominent big band in Los Angeles for nearly three decades, providing a real rival to Dizzy Gillespie's own Paramount Bop band into the early 1950s.

So when the younger Wilson asked Richards to help produce the debut album last year, the VCU musician was flattered to join in the project. Richards traveled to Los Angeles in February for the recording at Mad Hatter Studios.

"When I heard the music, right away I was aware of how extraordinary the quality of the recording was," he said. "Anthony is a monstrous jazz guitarist - one of the best of our time."

After the Grammy nominations were announced in January, Wilson called Richards to share the news. Richards doesn't reveal his own excitement about the nomination; instead, he gives the credit to his former student.

"His music appeals to both the heart and the intellect," Richards said. He just agreed to return to the production team for Wilson's follow-up album, which will be recorded in April in New York by some of the nation's hottest jazz musicians.

"When you have a music that grabs you that strong, it's very rare," said Richards, adding that he can't easily describe Wilson's sound in a few words. "Anthony takes much of the best music that has been offered and puts it out in his own refreshing way."