Bill Harris (April 14, 1925,

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, North Carolina – December 6, 1988, Washington, D.C.) was an American guitarist who played R&B and

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 ...

. Harris studied guitar in Washington, D.C. at the Columbia School of Music and in 1950 began playing with the R&B vocal group

The Clovers The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s.The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music. General Editor: Colin Larkin. First published 1993 (UK). . The Clovers p77. They had ...

. He remained with the group through 1958, playing on many of their most successful hit records. During this time he also recorded as a jazz musician, including albums for

EmArcy Records EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

in 1956–1957. He played in the D.C. area through the 1960s and 70s and also taught music, publishing several books on guitar technique. He was awarded a compositional fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

in 1972; for much of 1972–1973 Harris played in France. After returning to the U.S., Harris began managing his jazz club Pigfoot in D.C., but the club was repossessed by the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

in 1981 to collect back taxes."Bill Harris (ii)". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, 2004, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

. Harris worked as an

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

late in life, organizing and presenting concerts in multiple genres.

Discography

* ''Bill Harris'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Clifford Brown ...

, 1956) * ''The Harris Touch'' (EmArcy, 1957) * ''Great Guitar Sounds'' (

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, 1963) * ''Caught in the Act'' (Jazz Guitar, 1966) * ''Down in the Alley'' (

Black and Blue ''Black and Blue'' is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 April 1976 by Rolling Stones Records. This album was the first recorded after former guitarist Mick Taylor quit ...

, 1973) * ''Rhythm'' (Black and Blue, 1973) * ''Bill Harris in Paris Live! Alone!'' (Jazz Guitar, 1974)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bill 1925 births 1988 deaths American jazz guitarists 20th-century American guitarists People from Nashville, North Carolina Jazz musicians from North Carolina