Bauer, Billy (actually, William Henry)
Bauer, Billy (actually, William Henry)
Bauer, Billy (actually, William Henry), cool jazz guitarist; b. N.Y., Nov. 14, 1915. He is remembered for a number of innovative sessions with the Tristano school in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He worked with Jerry Wald’s Band (1939), then worked with Dick Stabile and Abe Lyman. He played with Woody Herman (1944^6), Benny Goodman (1948), and Chubby Jackson, and also recorded many albums with Lennie Tristano. He did regular TV work in the 1950s, including staff work in Bobby Byrne’s orch. Bauer played in Europe with Benny Goodman (May 1958); during the late 1950s and early 1960s, he often worked with Lee Konitz, while also leading his own groups, including a long residency at the Sherwood Inn, N.Y. During the 1970s, he maintained a rigorous freelance schedule. He continues to teach at his Long Island home.
Discography
Let’s Have a Session (1953); Plectrist (1956); Anthology (1990).
—John Chilton, Who’s Who of Jazz /Lewis Porter