The orchestra has recorded critically acclaimed CDs for Vocalion including 'This Is The John Wilson Orchestra', 'Orchestral Jazz', "Shall We Dance?' 'Soft Lights and Sweet Music', 'Moonlight Becomes You', 'Film and Television Music of Angela Morley' and 'Dance Date'. In addition the John Wilson Orchestra has collaborated on a CD recording for Sir Paul McCartney.

The orchestra has performed on British TV including 'Parkinson' and was recently invited to perform a concert for HRH Prince of Wales American Foundation at Buckingham Palace.
In August 2009 the John Wilson Orchestra made its debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in a concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of the MGM Film musicals. The concert was broadcast live on British television.

From The Times : August 4, 2009
Prom 22: MGM Musicals at the Albert Hall/Radio 3
Clive Davis

What a joyous evening. Sitting through the non-classical events slotted into the Proms programme has sometimes been a chore, Michael Ball's soggy show tunes and arias marking the low-water point. Thankfully, John Wilson's homage to the golden age of the Hollywood musical would have convinced all but the most blinkered purists that light music deserves a place in the pantheon.

Much has already been said about Wilson's tireless efforts to reconstruct the scores that were so recklessly destroyed when MGM's legacy fell into the wrong hands. The young Geordie's attention to detail is compelling; even more impressive on the night was the way he brought the orchestrations to life. This was no polite British guide to the silver screen. Underpinned by spirited string playing, his juggernaut of an orchestra - augmented by the Maida Vale Singers - combined rigour with an irrepressible element of swing, the trumpets, saxes and trombones throwing their own private party amid the festivities.

While the MGM Jubilee Overture served up several large spoonfuls of Main Street syrup, the remainder of the pieces were taut and immaculately upholstered. What might have seemed, on paper at least, an eccentric combination of guest singers worked remarkably well. The fiery Kim Criswell has proved her worth time and again, but the big surprise was the performance of Seth MacFarlane, better known as the creator of the TV animation Family Guy. Set the daunting task of taking the Sinatra role in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? MacFarlane sounded relaxed and playful.

Thomas Allen brought quiet authority to Gigi, while the soprano Sarah Fox joined him on the haunting Stranger in Paradise. And on Steppin' Out With My Baby, a dapper number that has become a staple of Tony Bennett's shows, the jazz singer Curtis Stigers added just the right touch of insouciance.

At the end, the singers took a back seat as Wilson and his remarkable musicians - who had kept up a ferocious pace without the help of an interval - embarked on the Broadway Melody Ballet, that epic fantasy sequence from Singin' in the Rain. Despite being stripped of the Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dance routine, the piece still came to full, Technicolor life.