Bill Connors (born September 24, 1949) is an 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 m ...
Return to Forever
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhu ...
. After leaving Return to Forever, he recorded three acoustic albums and then three electric albums as a leader/soloist."the complex and highly talented young guitarist, Bill Connors" (Nemko, ''Guitar Player'', 1974; "Bill Connors has been admired by aficionados and fellow players for his finely developed musical sense since he first broke on the national scene" (Santoro, ''Guitar Player'', 1985); "Bill Connors has always lived and played ahead of the times" (Messer, ''Guitar Player'', 2005); "Bill Connors was the 'cry of love' in fusion guitar" (Vernon Reid, ''100 Years of Jazz Guitar'', Columbia Records).
Early years
Connors was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1949 and began to play the guitar at the age of 14. After three years of extensive self-study of the rock and blues influences that were his first inspiration, he began to play gigs around the Los Angeles area with a heavy blues/rock group called Middle Earth. He found his way to jazz, the music that would lead to a lifelong commitment.
"I'd been playing for about four years", he explained at the time of his RTF tenure, "and suddenly had an overnight change. I didn't want to be a blues guitarist anymore. I began listening to people like Bill Evans, Jim Hall,
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...
,
assist
Assist or ASSIST may refer to:
Sports
Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team:
*Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...
Scott LaFaro,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...
really got to me. The first time I heard one of his records, I thought that was just what I wanted to be. He had all the fire, creativity, and energy that rock players have today. And the amazing purity of his melodies—you just knew they came from a totally instinctive place."Connors, interview with Frankie Nemko, ''Guitar Player'', October 1974.
He and Django differed however over the matter of electronics with Bill preferring the sound of the electric instrument. "I always wanted to use the electric guitar in a sophisticated context, like with Chick
orea
Orea is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
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* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* In ...
I like to play jazz with that electric-rock sound. For me it's a lot closer to a horn than the traditional guitar, and that's what I love about it; I can sustain notes, get into different kinds of phrasing—do things other instruments do naturally, only the guitar does it with the aid of technology."
Connors moved to San Francisco in 1972 to join the Mike Nock Group (formerly known as
The Fourth Way
The Fourth Way is an approach to self-development developed by George Gurdjieff over years of travel in the Eastern World, East (c. 1890 – 1912). It combines and harmonizes what he saw as three established traditional "ways" or "schools": thos ...
) with drummer
Eddie Marshall
Edwin "Eddie" Marshall (April 13, 1938 – September 7, 2011Obituary ) was an American and bassist Dennis Parker. He met up with drummer and vibraphonist Glenn Cronkhite, who introduced him to greater knowledge of jazz. Connors also played with bassist
Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow (born October 4, 1940) is an American jazz bassist and composer, known for his collaborations with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, and Carla Bley. He was one of the first jazz double bassists to switch entirely to electric bass guitar.
...
In 1973, after sitting in on a gig, Connors joined Return to Forever, a fusion band led by keyboardist Chick Corea's that included bassist
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...
and drummer
Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...
.
"A miracle!" Bill claims. "Chick was my hero. I wanted to be Chick Corea on guitar. I didn't know him, but whenever I really wanted to get off on music I'd play some of his piano solos and Return to Forever songs. I heard that Chick was looking for a guitarist. Steve encouraged me to call Chick, and though I was very nervous, I did, and he invited me to come over to the club where he was working and sit in. I was so scared that I almost turned him down. But after running around and saying to everyone, 'Guess who I'm going to play with tonight,' and everyone telling everyone else, all this energy was formulating – and I took to my room and practiced my ass off."
That night the fear disappeared. "The minute I got up on stage I had this feeling like I'd been preparing for this all my life. I was so relaxed that I felt as though I was in my own living room. Chick and I played musical games – he'd play these real simple lines and I'd be giving my interpretations of them, then go off into the Chick Corea 'outness.' I ended up in New York two weeks later."
With Corea's band of Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White, Connors established himself on the national and international music scenes, touring in Japan and Europe, and recording the album ''
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
''Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy'' is the third studio album by American jazz fusion band Return to Forever. It was released in October 1973 by Polydor. Flora Purim, Joe Farrell, and Airto Moreira were replaced by drummer Lenny White and guitarist ...
'' (1973).
In April 1974, after the band's tour of Europe and Japan, Bill quit the group. The musical direction seemed to him to be changing from what it was when Connors joined. He explains, "Everything started getting less aesthetic, more rock. Just too much like
Mahavishnu
Mahavishnu (Sanskrit: महाविष्णु) is an aspect of Vishnu, the principal deity in Vaishnavism. In his capacity as Mahavishnu, the deity is known as the Supreme Purusha, the absolute protector and sustainer of the universe, th ...
. I was having trouble expressing myself the way I wanted to in that context."
Connor's disenchantment with the group also stemmed from certain objections to Corea's
Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...
-inspired leadership style. "Chick had a lot of ideas that were part of his involvement with Scientology. He got more demanding, and I wasn't allowed to control my own solos. I had no power in the music at all. Then, we'd receive written forms about what clothes we could wear, and graphic charts where we had to rate ourselves every night – not by our standards, but his. Finally, we had to connect dots on a chart every night. I took all of it seriously because I had a lot of respect for Chick, but eventually I just felt screwed around. In the end, my only power was to quit."
After Return to Forever
In 1974, Connors left Return to Forever, and began to explore the New York jazz and session scene, performing with guitarist John Abercrombie and keyboardist Jan Hammer, and recording with former Return to Forever bandmate
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...
. "It was great," he stated in a 1985 interview, "because it wasn't this contrived thing in order to communicate to the audience. We were *playing* again and *learning* again, and it felt real good."Connors, interview with Gene Santoro, ''Guitar Player'', 1985.
During this period, recording with vocalist
Gene McDaniels
Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with "A Hund ...
and Stanley Clarke kept the guitarist's creative impulses occupied with a variety of challenges—but not for long. "Around 1975, I'd decided to become a classical guitar player", he muses. "I did my first solo album in 1974, and just decided on the spur of the moment to do it all on acoustic. That was just such a contrast from blowing people's ears off with my 200-watt Marshall that it really started to capture me." A further impetus came with Connors' discovery of classical artist Julian Bream. "I was sitting with his album ''20th Century Guitar''—a real classic—and it has this piece by erman composerHenze that I really loved. It was just getting to me, so I sat down for a couple of days and transcribed it—on my steel-string guitar, with my funny pick-and-finger technique aughs When I got it, it gave me so much pleasure that I said, 'Okay, I'm going to be a classical guitar player.' And that's what happened."
Connors recorded his solo album '' Theme to the Gaurdian'' ( ECM) in 1974, making the switch from electric to acoustic guitar. Simultaneously he began to study classical guitarists. Two more albums on acoustic guitar followed: ''
Of Mist and Melting
''Of Mist and Melting'' is the second album by American guitarist and composer Bill Connors recorded in 1977 and released on the ECM label.Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music.
Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław ...
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 ...
, and
Jimmy Giuffre
James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...
in New York City. He toured Europe, performing with
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
and
Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian (July 4, 1925 – March 6, 1983) was an American mezzo-soprano and composer based in Italy. She worked closely with many contemporary avant-garde music composers, including Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henr ...
. He returned to electric guitar, performing and recording with Garbarek on ''
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Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to:
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* Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...
on bass,
Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2000.
Biography
Weckl started playing his first set ...
on drums and
Steve Khan
Steve Khan (born Steven Harris Cahn;
April 28, 1947) is an American jazz guitarist.
Career
Steven Harris Cahn was born in Los Angeles. His father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear any and all versions of his songs". He took piano lessons as a ...
on guitar (on "Twinkle" track only). His next album, ''Double Up'' (1986), included bassist Kennedy and drummer Kim Plainfield. The same trio (Connors, Kennedy, Plainfield) recorded ''Assembler'' in 1987.
Connors has been giving private lessons while continuing his studies. He plays plectrum style on a classical jazz guitar and a
Gibson L-5 CES
The Gibson L-5 guitar was first produced in 1923 by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan, under the direction of acoustical engineer and designer Lloyd Loar, and has been in production ever since. It was considered the ...
archtop electric. Other guitars are a
Gibson Les Paul Custom
The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952.
History
The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with ...
and an
Ovation guitar
The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of string instruments. Ovation primarily manufactures steel-string acoustic guitars (both 6 and 12-string versions) and nylon-string guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification. In 2015, ...
Pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
'' with Paul Bley, Lee Konitz, (Improvising Artists, 1977)
* '' IAI Festival'' with Paul Bley, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre (Improvising Artists, 1978)
* ''
Of Mist and Melting
''Of Mist and Melting'' is the second album by American guitarist and composer Bill Connors recorded in 1977 and released on the ECM label.Swimming with a Hole in My Body'' (ECM, 1980)
* ''Step It'' (Pathfinder, 1984
985
Year 985 ( CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
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Europe
* Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theoph ...
* ''Double Up'' (Pathfinder, 1986)
* ''Assembler'' (Pathfinder, 1987)
* ''Return'' ( Tone Center, 2004)
As sideman
*
Return to Forever
Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhu ...
, ''
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
''Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy'' is the third studio album by American jazz fusion band Return to Forever. It was released in October 1973 by Polydor. Flora Purim, Joe Farrell, and Airto Moreira were replaced by drummer Lenny White and guitarist ...
'' (Polydor, 1973)
*
Julian Priester
Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock.
B ...
, ''Love, Love'' (ECM, 1974)
*
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...
, ''
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...
'' (Nemperor, 1974)
*
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 ...
Improvising Artists Improvising Artists Inc. known as IAI is a production company created by jazz pianist, 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 ...
, 1974
975
Year 975 ( CMLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
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Byzantine Empire
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*
Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music.
Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław ...
, ''
Places
Place may refer to:
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* Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population
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* "Place", a type of street or road name
** Ofte ...
'' (ECM, 1977
978
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Byzantine Empire
* Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...
979
Year 979 ( CMLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* March 24 – Second Battle of Pankaleia: An Ibero-Byzantine expeditionary ...
* Tom van der Geld, ''Path'' (ECM, 1979)
* Chick Corea, ''Chick Corea Compact Jazz'' (Polydor, 1987) Compilation with one track from "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy"
* Kim Plainfield &
Lincoln Goines
Lincoln Goines (born 1953) is a double bassist and bass guitarist from Oakland, California.
Biography
A mainstay of the New York City jazz/Latin/studio scene since the early 1980s and noted for his versatility and fluid style, Goines' extensive ...
Forever
Forever or 4ever may refer to:
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* ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice
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All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...