Bill Barron (musician)

Bill Barron ( born March 27, 1927 in Philadelphia, † September 21, 1989 in Middletown, Connecticut ) was an American jazz musician (tenor saxophonist, composer ) and high school teachers.

Barron met with nine years of his mother's piano and switched to saxophone at thirteen. He also studied at his high school music theory. In 1944 he went with the " Carolina Cotton Pickers " (which also once played John Coltrane ) on tour. After military service (with a military band ), he studied at the Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia, but played as a student in the quartet of Red Garland and Philly Joe Jones. In 1958 he moved to New York, where he worked with Charles Mingus ( in " Birdland" 1960), Cecil Taylor ( with whom he had his first recording in 1959 " Love for Sale " on Blue Note ), Donald Byrd, Ted Curson and Philly Joe Jones played. He also took several albums under his own name, beginning with " Nebulae " and "Modern Windows Suite" in 1961 at the Savoy. In 1964 he went with Ted Curson on tour in Europe, where she sang played at the Festival of Lugano. In 1965 he was again in Europe ( Belgium, Scandinavia ), where he also composed for Danish and Scandinavian radio big bands. In New York he led his own groups and played in the 1960, inter alia, with Grachan Moncur, Randy Weston, and Cecil Taylor. In 1966 he went back to the " Ornstein Music School " in Philadelphia to make his statements. In 1972 he went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he received his doctorate in music education. After that, he was professor and head of jazz studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut; held this position until his death.

He is the brother of Kenny Barron. Bill Barron is the oldest of five siblings.