Bill Potts

Orie William "Bill" Potts ( born April 3, 1928 in Arlington, Virginia, † 15 February 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and music teacher.

Life and work

Bill Potts played as a child and as a young Hawaiian guitar accordion. Under the impression of the music Count Basie, he moved to the high school to piano. During his military service in the U.S. Army from 1949 to 1955 he transcribed pieces for Army bands; He also arranged for Joe Timer and the ensemble of Willis Conover, THE Orchestra. He wrote four tracks for the Brunswick- LP from 1954 and participated in recordings of live shows, which also guest musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie participated.

To Potts 1956, he led the house band at Olivia Davis ' Patio Lounge in Washington, DC; Lester Young there was a commitment, and Potts persuaded Young to take with him on two evenings. These recordings appeared as Lester Young in Washington, DC Sessions.

1957 Potts worked mainly as a composer, arranger and musician Freddy Merkle's Jazz Under the Dome album. Shortly thereafter he suffered in a traffic accident serious injury that forced him to suspend several months. In 1959 he was fully recovered, as he recorded a session under his own full name under the title The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess. The album consisted of jazz interpretations of Gershwin 's opera Porgy and Bess; Participants were Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer and Phil Woods.

In the following years, Potts worked in New York City before he returned to the Washington area, where he played mainly at the local level, also toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and Woody Herman. From 1974 to 1990 he taught music theory at Montgomery College and led a big band for occasional appearances in the Washington night club Blues Alley. In 1995 he retired to Fort Lauderdale, where he died of a heart attack in February 2005.

Discography

  • The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess ( Blue Note Records, 1959)
  • Bye Bye Birdie ( Colpix, 1963)
  • 555 Feet High ( Jazz Crusade, 1988)
Arlington County, Virginia Brunswick Records George Gershwin Name Authority File
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