Bill Elgart or Billy Elgart (born November 9, 1942,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

) is an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

drummer. He is related to Les and

Larry Elgart Lawrence Joseph Elgart (March 20, 1922 – August 29, 2017) was an American jazz bandleader. With his brother Les, he recorded "Bandstand Boogie", the theme to the long-running dance show ''American Bandstand''. Biography Elgart was born in ...

. Elgart was born in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

. He studied at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

and was a student of

Alan Dawson Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929 – February 23, 1996) was an American jazz drummer and percussion teacher based in Boston. Biography Dawson was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army during th ...

. In the 1960s he played with

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

Paul Bley Paul Bley, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ...

Marion Brown Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongsi ...

, Sam Rivers, Lowell Davidson, Mark Levinson,

Roswell Rudd Roswell Hopkins Rudd Jr. (November 17, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist and composer. Although skilled in a variety of genres of jazz (including Dixieland, which he performed while in college), and other genres of musi ...

John Tchicai John Martin Tchicai ( ; 28 April 1936 – 8 October 2012) was a Danish free jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Tchicai was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to a Danish mother and a Congolese father. The family moved to Aarhus, where he st ...

Jack Walrath Jack Arthur Walrath (born May 5, 1946) is an American post-bop jazz trumpeter and musical arranger known for his work with Ray Charles, Gary Peacock, Charles Mingus, and Glenn Ferris, among others. Biography Walrath was born in Stuart, Florida. ...

and

Glenn Ferris Glenn Arthur Ferris (born June 27, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist who has also worked in other fields. Outside of jazz he has played for Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Duran Duran. He studied classical music from 1958 to 196 ...

. In 1968 he made his recording debut on ''Mr. Joy'', with Paul Bley and Gary Peacock. He moved to Europe in 1976, settling first in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, Austria and later in

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

, Germany. He has played with

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from v ...

Dave Holland David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography r ...

Ed Schuller Edwin Gunther Schuller (January 11, 1955) is an American jazz bassist and composer. His father is Gunther Schuller, a composer, horn player, and music professor, and his younger brother is drummer George Schuller. Career A native of New York Ci ...

, and Wayne Darling over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. He was a member of the group Zollsound 4 with Carlo Mombelli,

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...

, and Thomas Zoller. He played in the Sundial Trio with

Peter O'Mara Peter John O'Mara (born 9 December 1957) is an Australian-born jazz guitarist, composer, teacher and author. He has been based in Germany since late 1981. Biography O'Mara is a self-taught musician and began his professional career in Sydney i ...

from 1982 to 1990. In 1991 he worked with Caoma alongside Ed Schuller, Sigi Finkel, and

Tomasz Stanko Tomasz is a Polish given name, the equivalent of Thomas in English. Notable people with the given name include: *Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish heavyweight boxer *Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), Polish socialist politician and Prime Minist ...

. Stanko and Elgart also played with Vlatko Kucan in the 1990s. Elgart worked on the

Annemarie Roelofs Annemarie Roelofs (born 1955) is a Dutch trombone player, violinist, and professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She was a member of Henry Cow and the Feminist Improvising Group. Biography Roelofs studied violin at ...

Projekt, alongside Berger, Frank Möbus,

Vitold Rek Vitold Rek (* October 18, 1955 in Rzeszów, Poland as Witold E. Szczurek) is a double bassist, composer and music educator. He studied classical double bass at the Academy of Music in Kraków when Krzysztof Penderecki was rector there. His playing ...

, and Ingrid Sertso. He has worked as a sideman on recordings by

Leszek Zadlo Leszek () is a Slavic names, Slavic Polish language, Polish male given name, originally ''Lestko'', ''Leszko'' or ''Lestek'', related to Lech (name), ''Lech'', ''Lechosław'' and Czech language, Czech ''Lstimir''. Individuals named Leszek celebrat ...

, Manfred Bründl,

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active ...

, Carlo Mombelli,

Charlie Mariano Carmine Ugo Mariano (November 12, 1923 – June 16, 2009) was an American jazz saxophonist who focused on the alto and soprano saxophone. He occasionally performed and recorded on flute and nadaswaram as well. Biography Mariano was born in ...

, Arrigo Cappelletti,

Franco D'Andrea Francesco "Franco" D'Andrea (born 8 March 1941 in Merano, Italy) is an Italian jazz pianist and composer. Life D'Andrea is considered one of the most famous jazz musicians from Italy and has recorded some 200 albums. He developed his style in ...

Wolfgang Lackerschmid Wolfgang Lackerschmid (born 19 September 1956 in Tegernsee) is a German jazz musician, bandleader and composer. His main instrument is the vibraphone, but he also plays many other percussion instruments. Lackerschmid grew up in Ehingen and now l ...

Claudio Fasoli Claudio Fasoli (born 29 November 1939) is an Italian jazz - saxophonist (tenor and soprano saxophone) and composer of modern jazz. Music career Born in Venice, he now lives in Milan, Italy. After a long apprenticeship and many sessions with v ...

, Sigi Finkel and

Paolino Dalla Porta Paolino may refer to: People with the given name * Paolino Veneto (died 1344), Franciscan historian * Paolino Bertaccini (born 1997), Belgian football player * Paolino Taddei (1860-1925), Italian politician People with the surname * Joseph R. Paol ...

, and worked with

Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (born October 27, 1934, in San Francisco, California, United States) is an American jazz bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. Since 1972, he has been based in south ...

Eddie Gómez Edgar Gómez (born October 4, 1944) is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist, known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1966 to 1977. Biography Gómez moved with his family from Puerto Rico at a young age to New York, where he was raised. ...

Conny Bauer Konrad "Conny" Bauer (born 4 July 1943) is a German free jazz trombonist. He is the brother of the trombonist Johannes Bauer. As a student at senior high school in Sonneberg between 1957 and 1961, he was enthusiastic about modern music and danc ...

Sheila Jordan Sheila Jordan (born Sheila Jeanette Dawson; November 18, 1928) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Jordan pionee ...

, David Friedman and Matthias Schubert.

Discography

As leader

* ''A Life'' (Mark Levinson, 1976) * ''Jazz at Long Wharf'' (Mark Levinson, 1978) * ''Sun Dial'' (Rst, 1985) * ''Iliad'' (Rst, 1986) * ''O'Mara/Darling/Elgart'' (Core, 1988)

As sideman

With

* '' Mr. Joy'' (Limelight, 1968) * '' Paul Bley with Gary Peacock'' (ECM, 1970) * ''

Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...

'' (Improvising Artists, 1975) With

* ''Cities'' (RAM 1993) * ''Ten Tributes'' (RAM 1995) * ''Trois Trios'' (Splasc(H), 1999) With others *

, ''Franco D'Andrea Trio'' (YVP Music 1989) *

, ''No Man Is an Island'' (Douglas Music, 1997) *

Kent Carter Kent Carter (born June 14, 1939 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an American jazz bassist. His father, Alan Carter, founded the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. He is also the grandson of American artist, Rockwell Kent. He worked in Steve Lacy's group, ...

, ''Plaything'' (NoBusiness, 2014) *

, ''One More Life'' (Bhakti, 1992) * Guenter Lenz, ''Strict Minimum'' (Jazzwerkstatt, 2007) *

, ''Somewhere, out there'' (New Edition, 2013) *

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...

, ''Martin Mull'' (Capricorn, 1972) *

Jim Pepper Jim Gilbert Pepper II (June 18, 1941 – February 10, 1992) was a jazz saxophonist, composer and singer of Kaw and Muscogee Creek Native American heritage. He moved to New York City in 1964, where he came to prominence in the late 1960s as a mem ...

, ''Polar Bear Stomp'' (EmArcy, 2003) *

, ''Caoma'' (Konnex, 1993) * Sadao Watanabe, ''Sadao & Charlie Again'' (JVC, 2006) * Eric Watson, ''The Fool School'' (AA, 1993) *

, ''

Flutter By, Butterfly ''Flutter By, Butterfly'' is an album by the Kenny Wheeler Quintet recorded in 1987 and released on the Soul Note label.

'' (Soul Note, 1987) *

, ''Breath'' (Enja, 1989)

References

* Bill Elgartat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgart, Bill American jazz drummers Jazz musicians from Massachusetts People from Chelsea, Massachusetts 1942 births Living people 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians NoBusiness Records artists