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Bill Mays

"I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. "There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was an old, silver valved one. I loved that sound—it’s probably the reason I took up the baritone horn and trumpet in junior high school. We had a spinet piano, a Baldwin Acrosonic, and I was at it from a very early age.

I had some great teachers down through the years but the one who really set the stage, at around age eight, was Ethel Bush. She was a loving, supportive person who really ignited my passion for the instrument, including a love of practice, an awareness of tone production and the sheer joy of just being at the piano. That was a great gift. My first exposure to jazz came at age 16, when a friend took me to a jazz brunch at which the legendary Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines was playing solo piano. It was so new to my ears, and it was burning! His rhythmic drive, unusual melodic twists, two-handed independence and use of the whole keyboard thrilled and inspired me. Shortly thereafter I heard Miles Davis’ band at San Francisco’s Black Hawk, and that was further inspiration. Later I discovered Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Rowles, Horace Silver and Art Tatum—I was hooked!

My professional life began a year later, in 1961, when I joined the US Navy as a bandsman. I spent a year at the Naval School of Music in Washington DC, studying and jamming in the band room, and hanging out at the Bohemian Caverns listening to the JFK Quintet. After four years in the Navy, stationed in San Diego, I joined AFM Local 325 and started working with the Bill Green ensemble. Green played sax, clarinet and vibes. We did club dates, county fairs, industrial shows, commercials, and a daily TV variety show. It was great experience—playing different styles, sight-reading, accompanying singers, and learning loads of new tunes. During that period I listened a lot to pianist Mike Wofford, a marvelous San Diego-based pianist whom I count as a big influence. I also co-led a quartet called Road Work Ahead, with Peter Sprague, Jim Plank and Bob Magnusson. We combined electronic and acoustic instruments and worked quite a bit around L.A. and San Diego. Everyone wrote for the band so It really furthered my development as a composer.

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6
Album Review

Bill Mays Trio: Autumn Serenade

Read "Autumn Serenade" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


In Autumn Serenade, Bill Mays gifts us a bountiful harvest of seasonally-bound beauties. This 40th leader date from the eminent pianist finds him fronting a trio with two longtime colleagues--bassist Dean Johnson and drummer Ron Vincent--and welcoming vocalist Judy Kirtley and producer/guitarist Matt Balitsaris for guest appearances on a single track. Together, all parties join up for a musical journey filled with reflection and romance. Opening on the John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman-associated “Autumn Serenade," Mays makes good on ...

30
Album Review

Martin Wind Quartet: My Astorian Queen

Read "My Astorian Queen" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Bassist Martin Wind, born in Flensburg, Germany, moved to New York City in 1996 and has called the area home ever since— more specifically, suburban New Jersey where he lives with his wife, Maria, two grown sons and one dog. Wind had been in New York for less than forty-eight hours when he was introduced to Maria who lived in an apartment in a predominantly Greek area of Astoria, Queens; soon afterward, she became Wind's Astorian Queen and lifelong companion. ...

5
Album Review

Martin Wind Quartet: My Astorian Queen

Read "My Astorian Queen" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Bassist Martin Wind is a German national who received his early education and began his career in that country. He arrived in the US in the mid 90s to further his musical education, and studied with the likes of Jim McNeely, Mike Holober and Kenny Werner among others. He eventually began to receive broader recognition through his association with pianist Bill Mays. Over the years, and now a U.S. resident, he has gained a reputation as a multifaceted musician both ...

3
Album Review

Martin Wind Quartet: My Astorian Queen

Read "My Astorian Queen" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Bassist Martin Wind reminds us that “nostalgia" is not a four-letter word (or nine-letter for that matter). Wind would say, “nein" to that idea. The German-born bassist, now a solid member of New York's jazz community, can be heard in piano trios led by Bill Mays, Ted Rosenthal, and Bill Cunliffe, in drummer Matt Wilson's various projects, and in a duo with Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine, to name just a few ensembles in which he is THE in-demand sideman. As ...

45
Album Review

Bobby Shew / Bill Mays: Telepathy

Read "Telepathy" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Trumpet and piano duo albums are relatively rare. Louis Armstrong and Earl “Fatha" Hines' “Weather Bird" (1928) was a groundbreaker, although a single. Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie (Pablo, 1974) and Clark Terry's One on One (Chesky Records, 1999), where CT played with fourteen different jazz pianists, come to mind. Telepathy, a horn-piano collaboration featuring trumpeter Bobby Shew and pianist Bill Mays, continues the tradition—and, brilliantly so. Originally recorded in 1978 and released in 1982, the session is an exploration ...

5
Album Review

Bill Mays and Friends: Mays Plays Mays

Read "Mays Plays Mays" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Apart from whatever else it may entail, Mays Plays Mays surpasses most other recent enterprises thanks in large measure to pianist Bill Mays' singular artistry as composer, arranger and keyboard master. Now well into his seventh decade, Mays, who has made his living playing mostly other people's music, has devoted this album (for the most part) to his own songs and charts, even appending lyrics to (and singing on) a pair of them ("Play Song," whose lyric is by Mays' ...

16
Album Review

Bill Mays and Friends: Mays Plays Mays

Read "Mays Plays Mays" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger


In a career that has flourished for more than half a century and shows no signs whatsoever of slowing down, pianist, composer and author Bill Mays has always been known for his immaculate technique, distinctive creativity, swing and wit. Few players on any instrument are this consistently light-hearted, whether it is reflected in spontaneous and funny quoting or the clearly audible fact that this genuinely happy man is, quite literally, “playing" music to delight himself, as well as the listener. ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

“I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. “There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

“I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. “There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

“I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. “There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

“I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. “There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad's trombone was ...

9

Recording

Mays Plays Mays: Bill Mays And Friends - Plus At Kitano On December 20-21!

Mays Plays Mays: Bill Mays And Friends - Plus At Kitano On December 20-21!

Source: Scott Thompson Public Relations

After many recordings for the Chiaroscuro, Concord, Discovery, DMP, Palmetto, and Steeplechase record companies, pianist Bill Mays is releasing, on his own No Blooze Music label (released November 28, 2019), Mays Plays Mays: Bill Mays and Friends. The friends include guitarist John Hart, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, drummer Matt Wilson and bassist Martin Wind. Beautifully recorded by Matt Balitsaris, and mastered by Michael MacDonald, this marks Bill's 38th recording as a leader. The program features 13 Mays originals, a Gershwin classic, ...

Recording

Recent Listening: The Bill Mays Trio Is Back

Recent Listening: The Bill Mays Trio Is Back

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Pianist Mays recently reassembled his trio for a concert and their first CD release in more than ten years. Mays, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson came together in a live performance at last Fall’s COTA (Celebration Of The Arts) festival. The audience at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, was enthusiastic in welcoming Mays and the trio back to what was his main stomping ground before he began splitting his year between the Pennsylvania mountains ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

“I was born in Sacramento, CA" (William Allen Mays) Feb. 5, 1944. “There was always music in our home. My dad, Bill Sr., was a minister, and played the piano, organ, trombone, guitar and harmonica, so gospel music was the first music I heard. My mom, Martha, a homemaker, had a beautiful, very natural, voice and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while she sang. Dad\'s trombone was ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

Pianists, composer and arranger Bill Mays, born February 5, 1944, came from a musical family. In his northern California home, music was always present; his dad was a minister, and his mother, a homemaker. “Gospel music was the first music I heard,” Bill recalls. “Dad played the trombone, guitar and harmonica (at the same time!), piano and organ, and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while my mom ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

Pianists, composer and arranger Bill Mays, born February 5, 1944, came from a musical family. In his northern California home, music was always present; his dad was a minister, and his mother, a homemaker. “Gospel music was the first music I heard,” Bill recalls. “Dad played the trombone, guitar and harmonica (at the same time!), piano and organ, and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while my mom ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Jazz Musician of the Day: Bill Mays

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Bill Mays' birthday today!

Pianists, composer and arranger Bill Mays, born February 5, 1944, came from a musical family. In his northern California home, music was always present; his dad was a minister, and his mother, a homemaker. “Gospel music was the first music I heard,” Bill recalls. “Dad played the trombone, guitar and harmonica (at the same time!), piano and organ, and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while my mom ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Autumn Serenade

Sunnyside Records
2023

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The Mulligan...

Larsenjazz Productions
2021

buy

My Astorian Queen

LAIKA Records
2021

buy

Telepathy

Fresh Sound Records
2020

buy

Live At COTA

No Blooze Music
2019

buy

Mays Plays Mays

No Blooz Music
2019

buy

Mean What You Say

From: My Astorian Queen
By Bill Mays

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