One could say I was born into music. My father was a minister by day and multi-instrument player in his spare time. He would often accompany my mother, a singer with a fine, natural voice. Gospel was the first music I heard, and I started touching the keys of an old spinet in the living room while just a baby. At age five I started piano lessons. In junior high school I took up trumpet and baritone horn. My first exposure to jazz came at 14, my first professional gigs began a year later.

   It's now been a 60-year career and counting, and sharing my music remains a great joy. I spent four years as a bandsman in the U.S. Navy, fifteen years as a studio musician in Hollywood and then, in 1984, came to New York City to take the next step as a composer, sideman, and leader of my own ensembles.

   I've had the good fortune to work with jazz legends, accompany famed singers, write and arrange for a wide range of bands and orchestras, appear at jazz festivals around the world, and play on hundreds of recordings, including 40 as a leader. There's even a book. I invite you to learn more about my background, my current projects, and to take a listen to the musical samples on this website. My music and my Stories Of The Road can be ordered here as well.

Thanks, Bill

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