Saturday, November 3, 2007

An Evening with
Bill Mays

Bill Mays, piano
Tommy Cecil, bass
Tony Martucci, drums

Selections will be announced from the stage

About the Artist

Pianist, composer and arranger William Allen Mays (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 sang. She had a beautiful, very natural, voice. Dad still plays an old, silver valve trombone. I loved that sound-it’s probably the reason I took up the baritone horn and trumpet in Jr. high school.”

Bill’s first exposure to jazz, at age 16, was a concert by Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines. “A friend took me to a jazz brunch and Fatha was playing solo piano,” Bill remembers. “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.”

That was the beginning of a love affair that continues to this day because “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 Ar Tatum--I was hooked!”

Bill’s professional life began at age 17 as a bandsman in the U. S. Navy, when he spent a year at the Naval School of Music in Washington D.C. His “days were spent jamming in the band room and my nights at the Bohemian Caverns listening to the JFK Quintet,” an influential early 60s D.C. based group featuring Andrew White. After four years in the Navy, Mays joined Local 325 in San Diego, CA and started working with the Bill Green ensemble.

In 1969 Bill made the big move to Los Angeles. He continued his piano studies with Victor Aller and worked jazz gigs with LA’s best players, including Buddy Collette, Harold Land, Shelly Manne, Bud Shank, Art Pepper, and the Kenton Jr. Neophonic Orchestra. He was a long-time member of the Bobby Shew Quintet, led a piano-bass-guitar trio featuring Danny Embrey, did some two-piano recordings with Alan Broadbent and had a working band that featured Ernie Watts & Abe Laboriel.
The momentum continued and Bill had many invigorating collaborations in L.A. and eventually became a fixture in the Hollywood recording studios. He fondly recalls “working with some truly gifted film writers and playing with fantastic musicians. In fact, I first met J.J. Johnson and Benny Golson that way, not in a jazz setting, but playing for them in a Hollywood studio.”

With such diverse experience and musical acumen, Bill became the consummate accompanist, LA’s first-call pianist for singers. Although he worked with more singers than he can recall, one memory remains vivid, when Jimmy Rowles recommended him for the gig with Sarah Vaughan. “That was heaven, hearing that voice every night,” he remembers, “and with Jimmy Cobb in the drum chair! Sarah was a ball and it was like family.” Other singer gigs followed, from Dionne Warwick and Anita O’Day to Al Jarreau and Frank Sinatra.

In addition to his reputation as a jazz pianist noted as both a first-rate accompanist, and soloist, Bill Mays is well-known for his compositional and arranging talents. He has contributed music to the libraries of a wide array of artists: Aureole chamber ensemble, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Percy Faith Orchestra, Woody Herman Orchestra, Morgana King, Shelly Manne, Mark Murphy, Bud Shank, Marvin Stamm, Lew Tabackin, Turtle Creek Chorale and Phil Woods.

Bill’s published works include pieces for solo piano, suites for contrabass and piano and for flute and piano, saxophone quartets, charts for big band and symphony orchestra, a jazz woodwind version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, music for Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca, and incidental music for the film, Hamlet.

Currently, Bill Mays tours and records in many varied configurations: duo with Bud Shank, duo with trumpeter Marvin Stamm, the Inventions Trio, solo piano, his trio (featuring Matt Wilson & Martin Wind), and a sextet. A recent endeavor has been his classical/jazz crossover concerts with the Philadelphia Piano Quartet and the Toronto Chamber Jazz Septet. He has many awards and honors as an arranger, pianist and producer, and has been the recipient of performance grants from Meet The Composer, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour.

Jazz bassist and composer Tommy Cecil first picked up the bass as a teenager in his hometown of Baltimore, and started teaching himself how to play. In 1976, Tommy moved to Washington and since then has established himself as one of the most sought-after bassists in the area. As a free-lancer he has worked with artists as diverse as Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Kieko Matsui, Cab Calloway, Terence Blanchard, Mose Allison, Phil Woods, Teddy Wilson and Chet Baker. Additionally, Tommy concertized with Grover Washington, Jr. and Henry Butler in the former Soviet Union on a tour sponsored by the Chautauqua Institute. Tommy has played in the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller.

Saxophonist Ron Holloway frequently calls Tommy for gigs and recordings including “Slanted” and “Scorcher” (Milestone). Tommy is featured on pianist Larry Eanet’s latest recording, “Sunset Stomp” (Arbors Jazz) and guitarist Royce Campbell hired Tommy for his recording, “Project G5 Tribute To Joe Pass” (King/Japan) which also features Gene Bertoncini, Charlie Byrd, Mundell Lowe and John Pisano.

Tommy has headlined at Wolf Trap, Blues Alley, One Step Down and The Smithsonian with pianist Louis Scherr. Together they released several recordings including “The Song Is You” (Limetree/Holland) and “Warm Valley” featuring Joe Henderson (Westwind/Germany). Tommy and Louis have played jazz festivals in Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia, Tallinn, Estonia; San Remo, Italy; and Santiago, Chile.
Tommy’s first recording as a leader has been released. “Samba For Felix” (Slider Music) features pianist Tommy Flanagan, saxophonist Gary Bartz, guitarist Paul Bollenback, drummer Billy Hart and percussionist Cyro Baptista.

Tony Martucci has cultivated an original and interpretive drum style that is both supportive and interactive, reflecting his deep understanding of the jazz tradition and his vast stylistic influence. He is a creatively skilled accompanist and a soloist of unusual melodic depth. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tony’s professional career began over 25 years ago. During that time he has performed in clubs, concerts, festivals, on television and recorded with some of the greatest names in music both in this country and abroad. A partial list of his credits include work with the following musicians: Mose Allison, Gary Burton, Charlie Byrd, Eddie Daniels, George Garzone, Joe Henderson, Fred Hersch, Steve Kessler, The Jose Limon Dance Company, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Don Patterson, Dewey Redman, Joshua Redman, Sonny Stitt, Dave Valentin, Kenny Werner and Glenn Wilson. Tony is also a member of the Russian-American joint venture jazz group “Partners In Time” (formerly known as “Jazznost”) founded in 1990 by Louis Scherr. The group has recorded two Albums on CD, toured and performed at concerts in the US, Russia, Canada and throughout Europe. Tony Also formed a co-op trio with fellow Washingtonians, pianist Louis Scherr and bassist Tommy Cecil. Together the trio has delighted audiences at concerts and festivals on four continents, including performances at the Monterey Jazz Festival and the North Seas Jazz festival. Their recording, “Warm Valley” which featured Joe Henderson, was awarded four stars in Down Beat Magazine.

He is also known as a leader of his own ensembles and in 1980 released his first recording “Earth Tones” on Sound Judgement Records. Earth Tones has enjoyed praise all over the world by jazz fans and critics alike and was included in the top ten favorite recordings of 1990 by the critics of Jazz Times Magazine. In 1994, Tony’s long awaited second release titled “Collage” was greeted with similar praise. Tony continues to be much in demand as a leader and as a sideman. In addition to leading his own dynamic bands, Tony continues his long time associations, touring, recording, and performing in concerts with Mose Allison, Fred Hersch, Jon Metzger, Partners In Time and Glenn Wilson, as well as being a free-lance collaborator on other projects too numerous to mention here.