Bill Pierce (also Billy Pierce) (born September 25, 1948 in Hampton, Virginia) is an American jazz saxophonist.
He played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in the early 1980s [1] and in Tony Williams's quintet in the mid-1980s to early 1990s. [2] He also has released numerous CDs for which he is the band leader. [3]
He studied with Joe Viola and Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and with Joe Allard. He is the former chair of the school's woodwind department. [4]
With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
With Geoff Keezer
With Kevin Eubanks
With Makoto Ozone
With Superblue
With Tony Williams
With Laszlo Gardony
Kevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz and fusion guitarist and composer. He was the leader of The Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led the Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.
Steve Davis is an American jazz trombonist.
Carl Allen is an American jazz drummer.
Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career.
Wallace Roney was an American jazz trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations.
Robin Eubanks is an American jazz and jazz fusion slide trombonist, the brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. Younger brother Shane Eubanks, twin to Duane Eubanks, is a DJ. His uncles are jazz pianist Ray Bryant and bassist Tommy Bryant. His mother, Vera Eubanks, was famed pianist Kenny Barron's first piano teacher.
Robert Michael Watson Jr., known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Dennis Irwin was an American jazz double bassist. He toured and recorded with John Scofield and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra among others, and played on over 500 albums.
Jean Toussaint is an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.
David Schnitter is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Victor Lewis is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Ralph Peterson Jr. was an American jazz drummer, composer, teacher, and bandleader.
Steve Wilson is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, who is best known in the musical community as a flutist and an alto and soprano saxophonist. He also plays the clarinet and the piccolo. Wilson performs on many different instruments and has performed and recorded on over twenty-five albums. His interests include folk, jazz, classical, world music, and experimental music. Wilson is currently on the faculty of New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He was elected as an American Champion by the National Flute Association. Wilson has maintained a busy career working as a session musician, and has contributed to many musicians of note both in the recording studios, but as a sideman on tours. Over the years he has participated in engagements with several musical ensembles, as well as his own solo efforts.
Frank Lacy is an American jazz trombonist who has spent many years as a member of the Mingus Big Band.
Peter Washington is a jazz double bassist. He played with the Westchester Community Symphony at the age of 14. Later he played electric bass in rock bands. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in English Literature, and performed with the San Francisco Youth Symphony and the UC Symphony Orchestra. His growing interest in jazz led him to play with John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Harold Land, Frank Morgan, Ernestine Anderson, Chris Connor and other Bay Area luminaries. In 1986 he joined Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers and moved to New York City. Beginning in the 1990s, he toured with the Tommy Flanagan trio until Flanagan's death in 2001, and has played with the Bill Charlap trio since 1997. He was a founding member of the collective hard bop sextet One for All and is a visiting artist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
James Williams was an American jazz pianist.
Donald Ray Brown is an American jazz pianist and producer.
Album of the Year is an album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1981 in Paris and released on the Dutch Timeless label. A 2015 re-issue on the Japanese "Solid Records" label offers two additional tracks recorded in 1982 with a different line up including Terrence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Johnny O'Neal.
The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the outset. "Art Blakey" and "Jazz Messengers" became synonymous over the years, though Blakey did lead non-Messenger recording sessions and played as a sideman for other groups throughout his career.
"Yes sir, I'm gonna to stay with the youngsters. When these get too old, I'm gonna get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active."
The Jazz Messengers were a jazz band that existed with varying personnel for 35 years. Their discography consists of 47 studio albums, 21 live albums, 2 soundtracks, 6 compilations, and one boxed set.