Bill Barron (musician)
Bill Barron | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Barron, Jr. |
| Born | March 27, 1927 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | September 21, 1989 (aged 62) Middletown, Connecticut, US |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, educator |
| Instrument(s) | Saxophone, clarinet |
William Barron, Jr. (March 27, 1927 – September 21, 1989)[1] was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.[1]
Barron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He began studying the piano when he was nine years old and later switched to the saxophone. He toured with the Carolina Cotton Pickers when he was 17.[2] He first appeared on a Cecil Taylor recording in 1959, and he later recorded extensively with Philly Joe Jones and co-led a post-bop quartet with Ted Curson. His younger brother, pianist Kenny Barron, appeared on all of the sessions that the elder Barron led.[1][3] Other musicians he recorded with included Charles Mingus and Ollie Shearer.
Barron also directed a jazz workshop at the Children's Museum in Brooklyn, taught at City College of New York, and became the chairman of the music department at Wesleyan University.[1] He recorded for Savoy, recording that label's last jazz record in 1972,[1] and Muse. The Bill Barron Collection is housed at the Institute of Jazz Studies of the Rutgers University libraries.[4]
Barron died in Middletown, Connecticut.[1]
Discography[edit]
As leader[edit]
- The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron (Savoy, 1961)
- Modern Windows (Savoy, 1962)
- West Side Story Bossa Nova (Dauntless, 1963)
- Hot Line (Savoy, 1964)
- Now Hear This! (Audio Fidelity, 1964)
- Motivation (Savoy, 1972)
- Jazz Caper (Muse, 1982)
- Variations in Blue (Muse, 1983)
- The Next Plateau (Muse, 1989)
- Higher Ground (Joken, 1993)
- A Swedish-American Venture (Dragon, 2002)
- Live at Cobi's (SteepleChase, 2005)
- Live at Cobi's 2 (SteepleChase, 2006)
As sideman[edit]
With Ted Curson
- Plenty of Horn (Old Town, 1961)
- Tears for Dolphy (Fontana, 1965)
- The New Thing & the Blue Thing (Atlantic, 1965)
- Flip Top (Arista/Freedom, 1977)
- Snake Johnson (Chiaroscuro, 1981)
With Charlie Mingus
- Pre-Bird (Mercury, 1961)
- Jazz Makers (Mercury, 1963)
- Mingus Revisited (Limelight, 1965)
- Take the A Train (Back Up, 2006)
With others
- Kenny Barron, Lucifer (Muse, 1975)
- Ted Heath, London Stereo Laboratory Vol. 4 Big Band (London, 1974)
- Philly Joe Jones, Philly Joe's Beat (Atlantic, 1960)
- Philly Joe Jones, Showcase (Riverside, 1960)
- Cecil Taylor, Love for Sale (United Artists, 1959)
- Cecil Taylor, In Transition (Blue Note, 1975)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Yanow, Scott. Bill Barron at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
- ^ Fraser, C. Gerald (1989-09-24). "Bill Barron, Tenor Saxophonist, Composer and Teacher, Dies at 62". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- ^ "Jazz discography.com". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
- ^ "The William "Bill" Barron (1927 – 1989) Collection" (PDF).
External links[edit]
- Bill Barron at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1927 births
- 1989 deaths
- American jazz tenor saxophonists
- American male saxophonists
- American jazz soprano saxophonists
- Savoy Records artists
- SteepleChase Records artists
- Muse Records artists
- Chiaroscuro Records artists
- Wesleyan University faculty
- Musicians from Philadelphia
- 20th-century American saxophonists
- Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- African-American jazz musicians
- 20th-century African-American musicians