Bill Cunliffe
Jazz pianist, composer and Grammy Award-winning arranger Bill Cunliffe is known for his innovative and swinging recordings and compositions. Bill began his career as pianist and arranger with the Buddy Rich Big Band and worked with Frank Sinatra, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson and James Moody. He has since established himself as a solo artist and bandleader, with more than a dozen albums under his name.
Bill currently plays with his trio; his big band; his Latin band, Imaginación; and his classical-jazz ensemble, Trimotif. He performs in the U.S. and around the world as a leader and sideman as well as a soloist with symphony orchestras.
His latest recording is the Bill Cunliffe Trio album “River Edge, New Jersey,” with bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner, released in April by Azica Records.
Other recent releases include his Overture, Waltz and Rondo for jazz piano, trumpet and orchestra (BCM+D Records, 2012). Bill performed the work with trumpeter Terell Stafford and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Biava. The recording won Bill his fifth Grammy nomination, in the Best Instrumental Composition category.
Also released in 2012 was his Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra, with tubist Jim Self and the Hollywood Ensemble, with Bill conducting (Metre Records, 2012). Bill’s album of solo improvisations on Christmas carols, “That Time of Year” (Metre Records, 2011), was described as a “tour de force” in the Los Angeles Times.
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Album Review
- BACHanalia by Jerome Wilson
Big Band Report
Album Review
- BACHanalia by Jack Bowers
Interview
Album Review
- River Edge, New Jersey by Dan Bilawsky
- That Time of Year by Larry Taylor
- That Time of Year by Dan McClenaghan
- That Time of Year by C. Michael Bailey
Extended Analysis
Album Review
- Imaginacion by Dan McClenaghan
June 26, 2020
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2019
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2018
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2017
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2016
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2015
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2014
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
August 08, 2013
Bill Cunliffe: Abstract Truth 2
June 26, 2013
Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Cunliffe
June 26, 2012
BIll Cunliffe (and his trio) shared his genius with us in Roswell, with some of the most brilliant piano playing we've heard! Michael Francis, Executive Director, Roswell Jazz Festival
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