Bill Barron (musician)

William Barron, Jr. (March 27, 1927 – September 21, 1989)^[1] was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.^[1]

Bill Barron
Birth name	William Barron, Jr.
Born	(1927-03-27)March 27, 1927 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Died	September 21, 1989(1989-09-21) (aged 62) Middletown, Connecticut, US
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, educator
Instrument(s)	Saxophone, clarinet
Formerly of	Ted Curson, Cecil Taylor, Kenny Barron

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

As leader

• 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

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

1. Yanow, Scott. Bill Barron at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
2. 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.
3. "Jazz discography.com". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
4. "The William "Bill" Barron (1927 – 1989) Collection" (PDF).

External links

• Bill Barron at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University