Bill O'Connell (born August 22, 1953, in New York City) is a jazz pianist, educator, and bandleader. He is most associated with

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...

and hard bop. He studied piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, but has mostly lived in NYC or

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. He teaches jazz piano at Mason Gross School for the Arts at the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, in New Jersey. He worked with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

early on in his career. From 1982 to 2017 he has often collaborated and toured with

Dave Valentin David Peter Valentin (April 29, 1952 – March 8, 2017) was an American Latin jazz flautist of Puerto Rican descent. Life and career Valentin was born to Puerto Rican parents in The Bronx in New York City. He attended The High School of Mus ...

Discography

* 1978 ''Searching'' (Inner City Records) * 1988 ''Love For Sale'' (Bellaphon, Jazz City) * 1993 ''Lost Voices'' (CTI Records) * 1998 The Jazz Slumber Project Directed By Bill O'Connell - Sleep Warm - A Jazz Lullaby Collection (HokanZee Records) * 2001 ''Black Sand'' (Random Chance) * 2010 ''Rhapsody In Blue'' (Challenge Records) * 2015: ''The Power Of Two'' (Panorama) * 2016: ''Heart Beat'' (Savant) * 2018: ''Jazz Latin'' (Savant) * 2019: ''Wind Off The Hudson'' (Savant)Bill O'Connell and The Afro Caribbean Ensemble, ''Wind Off The Hudson''
Review by

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, NYCJR, December 2019, Issue 212, page 30 - retrieved 8 December 2019 As sideman With

Kalahari (GRP, 1984) Mind Time (GRP, 1987)

References

External links

Bill O'Connell website
* All Music American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Living people 1953 births 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians CTI Records artists {{US-jazz-pianist-stub