Wood, Vishnu (William Clifford)

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Wood, Vishnu (William Clifford)

Wood, Vishnu (William Clifford), jazz bass, oud, dil rhuba, tamboura, composer, educator; b. North Wilkesboro, N.C., Nov. 7, 1937. His family moved to Detroit when he was in his early teens. His father played various reed instruments, and a brother, Max, played bass. Vishnu studied harmony, piano, and solfège at the Detroit Inst. of Music and Art (1959-61) and studied bass with Gaston Brohan and John Matthews of the Detroit Symphony. Woods moved to N.Y. in 1961. He worked with Alice Coltrane, Max Roach, S. Rivers, Archie Shepp, Terry Gibbs, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, and James Moody, as well as with dance troupes and in theater. In 1966-67, he went to Africa with Randy Weston, including an extended stay in Morocco in 1968. He has taught music at various colleges, including directing the music program at Hampshire Coll. (1976-80). Since 1984, he has directed Vishnu & the Safari East Concert Workshop Ensemble, playing instruments and music from various cultures primarily for public school children.

—Lewis Porter