Bill Clifton (pianist)

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Bill Clifton

William "Bill" Clifton (born 1916 in Toronto ; † February 26, 1967 ) was a Canadian pianist of early pop jazz .

Live and act

Clifton grew up in Toronto and had piano lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Music from the age of seven. During his high school years he was influenced by the music of Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington ; for a career as a professional musician he decided after a concert by Bunny Berigan with Joe Bushkin . After graduating from school, he played in the bands of Rudy Spratt and Cliff McKay in Canada before moving to New York City in 1939, where George T. Simon found him his first job in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. He played in a number of swing bands in the early 1940s , including Jerry Jerome(with the first recordings made in 1942), Benny Goodman , Woody Herman , Ray Noble , Bud Freeman , Red McKenzie (with the V-Disc All Stars, Can't We Talk It Over ), Sonny Dunham and Abe Lyman . Clifton also accompanied vocalists such as Bing Crosby , Frank Sinatra , Cliff Edwards and Ilene Woods . In 1944 he had the opportunity to take part in a V-Disc session with Louis Armstrong , Jack Teagarden and Don Byas .

In the following years Clifton became a sought-after studio musician for the radio and television stations of NBC and CBS, and around 1950 he also appeared regularly on the radio program Piano Playhouse and played in Tony Mottola's trio . Clifton also had some film and television appearances such as in the TV series Studio One (1953) alongside Jackie Gleason and Art Carney . After he had the opportunity in 1947 for the first recordings under his own name for the small label Keystone Records (series Transcription ), he was able to record one of the first long-playing records in the series Piano Moods in the pop jazz idiom for the major label Columbia Records . He had his last recording session around 1960, when he was pianist, orchestra conductor and arranger on Ilene Woods' album It's Late ( Jubilee Records ). Clifton died in 1967 at the age of 50 while sailing on the cruise ship SS Argentina. In the field of jazz he was involved in 23 recording sessions between 1942 and 1960.

According to Dick Katz , Clifton's 1950 album had an influence on jazz pianist Bill Evans in its early stages, as he wrote in the liner notes of the re-released Columbia Jazz Piano Moods . But it is also believed that Bill Clifton was just one of Bill Evans' pianist friends.

Discographic notes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other sources, he died in 1963; see. Reminder page at Jazz Toronto ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / 2010.jazz.to
  2. ↑ a b c d Marc Myers: Bill Clifton and Bill Evans (2014) in Jazzwax ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazzwax.com
  3. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed July 2, 2014)
  4. ↑ International Association of Jazz Record Collectors Journal, Volumes 19-20
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.billcliftonpiano.com
  6. ^ C. Andrew Hovan: Review of the album The Columbia Jazz Piano Moods Sessions (2001) in All About Jazz
personal data
SURNAME Clifton, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clifton, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1967