Bill Barron (musician)

Bill Barron
Birth nameWilliam Barron, Jr.
Born(1927-03-27)March 27, 1927
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
DiedSeptember 21, 1989(1989-09-21) (aged 62)
Middletown, Connecticut, US
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, educator
Instrument(s)Saxophone, clarinet
Formerly ofTed Curson, Cecil Taylor, Kenny Barron

William Barron, Jr. (March 27, 1927 – September 21, 1989)[1] was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.[1]

Barron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He began studying the piano when he was nine years old and later switched to the saxophone. He toured with the Carolina Cotton Pickers when he was 17.[2] He first appeared on a Cecil Taylor recording in 1959, and he later recorded extensively with Philly Joe Jones and co-led a post-bop quartet with Ted Curson. His younger brother, pianist Kenny Barron, appeared on all of the sessions that the elder Barron led.[1][3] Other musicians he recorded with included Charles Mingus and Ollie Shearer.

Barron also directed a jazz workshop at the Children's Museum in Brooklyn, taught at City College of New York, and became the chairman of the music department at Wesleyan University.[1] He recorded for Savoy, recording that label's last jazz record in 1972,[1] and Muse. The Bill Barron Collection is housed at the Institute of Jazz Studies of the Rutgers University libraries.[4]

Barron died in Middletown, Connecticut.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Yanow, Scott. Bill Barron at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  2. ^ Fraser, C. Gerald (1989-09-24). "Bill Barron, Tenor Saxophonist, Composer and Teacher, Dies at 62". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  3. ^ "Jazz discography.com". Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  4. ^ "The William "Bill" Barron (1927 – 1989) Collection" (PDF).