Bill Douglas - A Place Called Morning
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Track Listing
- Lake Isle of Innisfree - 4:29 (MP3)
- Emerald Dawn - 3:59 (MP3)
- Forest Hymn - 4:15 (MP3)
- Morning Song - 2:38
- Tara [Choral Version] - 4:22
- Lovely Is the Rose - 4:03
- Golden Rain - 3:53
- Wings of the Wind - 2:22
- Spectrum of Violet - 5:23
- A Place Called Morning - 5:05
- Intermezzo - 3:44
- Sadness of the Moon - 3:56
- Rise Up, My Love - 4:06
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After 2000's "best of" compilation Eternity's Sunrise, Bill Douglas is back with this contemporary choral/instrumental gem. Once again the Ars Nova Singers deliver touching and inspiring harmonies, supported by Bill's sensitive piano playing and brillianly melodic arrangements for oboe, bassoon, clarinet and flute. In a career marked by extraordinarily beautiful and poplular music, A Place Called Morning may be his most appealing work yet.
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Bill Douglas - Cantilena
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Track Listing
- Diamond Dance 2:36
- Love Song 4:22
- Leap! 3:29
- Farther Than the Stars 6:32
- Sacred Wood 4:04
- Earth Prayer 4:57
- First Light 4:27
- Tara 4:00
- Dawn 4:59
- Elegy (for Dad) 6:01
- Lake Isle of Innisfree 4:11
- Child 4:07
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- In musicology, Cantilena means "a vocal or instrumental melody of a highly lyrical rather than a dramatic or viruoso nature," or "a slow, smooth, melodious style of vocal writing." You couldn't find a more fitting description of BILL DOUGLAS' music. The foundation of his all-over-the-map musical resume is a gift for singing, lyrical melodic lines in the best tradition of Western folk and vocal music. BILL DOUGLAS' first Hearts of Space release (Jewel Lake, 1988) exposed such a rich vein of melody, song, and rhythm that one album scarcely touched the highpoints. So Cantilena is in many ways an extension of the mix of spirited Celtic dances, poignant ballads, modal folksongs, and contemplative melodies that Jewel Lake brought to appreciative audiences across the U.S., Canada, and Spain - where it became a surprise hit after national airplay.
These twelve new songs span a range that extends from simple folk melodies to deeply emotional music of near religious profundity. Unlike Jewel Lake, there's no oboe this time, so you'll hear a lot more bassoon throughout, with Bill playing his principal instrument superbly on the solos, and with lusty harmonic precision on the (up to) five bassoon choruses. Jewel Lake vocalist JANE GRIMES, flautist ANNE STACKPOLE, and percussionist GEOFF JOHNS return, with new additions BIL JACKSON on clarinet, DAVID LOCKINGTON on cello, plus additional percussion from CHRIS LEE and JOHN GALM. All keyboards and piano are ably handled by Bill, who also makes his falsetto vocal recording debut on "Child."
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Bill Douglas - Circle of Moons
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Track Listing
- Heaven in a Wild Flower 4:30
- Island of Woods 4:42
- Like a Wave of the Sea 3:02
- Under the Moon 4:36
- The Piper 3:29
- Azure 4:08
- Highstep 2:56
- The Rose of Kildare 3:39
- Circle of Moons 4:09
- Fountain 3:35
- Into the Twilight 3:37
- Sweet Dancer 4:02
- Flow Gently, Sweet Afton 4:17
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- On Circle of Moons, composer Bill Douglas reaches a new level of refinement in thirteen enchanting, gently romantic tunes. His music dissolves the fabric of time, transporting listeners back to a more innocent era filled with fantastic legends and magical landscapes.
Circle of Moons adds yet another dimension to BILL DOUGLAS' legacy as an artist of uncommon versatility and melodic sensitivity. While most musicians strive to succeed in one genre, this multi-talented composer/keyboardist/bassoonist has already made his mark in the fields of classical, jazz, pop and new age music, weaving together influences from all in his critically-acclaimed performances and his recordings with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.
Jewel Lake (Hearts of Space, 1988), Bill's first album as leader of his own ensemble, showcased his warm, heart-filling brand of lyricism. "From the opening bars," wrote a critic for Keyboard, "It's obvious that Bill Douglas is endowed with a real gift for creating superb, unforgettable melodies." His subsequent HOS releases, Cantilena (1990) and Kaleidoscope (1993), garnered similar accolades for a unique combination of liquid, Celtic-inspired originals enhanced by subtle classical, jazz, and world music influences. He contributed four of the fourteen tracks on Celtic Twilight, Hearts of Space's 1994-95 bestseller - nearly a third of the album.
On Circle of Moons, the composer reaches a new level of refinement in thirteen enchanting, gently romantic tunes. The opening track, a choral setting of the poetic sentiments of William Blake, also reveals his deep-seated love for the transcendent melodies and sumptuous harmonies of Renaissance sacred music. "This era, especially as it relates to the English choral tradition, is my favorite," says the artist. "That's what I listen to for the sheer pleasure of it; pieces by William Byrd, Josquin de Prez and Thomas Tally really inspire me."
"Heaven in a Wild Flower," performed by the Boulder, Colorado-based ARS NOVA SINGERS conducted by Thomas Morgan, brings some of Blake's most evocative images to life with sublime melodies and emotionally-charged harmonies that combine the exultant ideals of the Renaissance with Douglas' flowing style of modern romanticism. The music creates an overall feeling of ecstacy that echoes through the room long after the vocalists sound their final chord.
Further on Circle of Moons, the Canadian-born composer again returns to the rich traditions of his Scotch-Irish ancestors. "I'm still very moved by Celtic music - not only its joyousness, but also the poignancy of the melodies." A host of world class performers on clarinet, English horn, flute, cello and percussion, join Douglas' dreamy synthesizer textures, eloquent bassoon melodies, and expressive piano lines, which place his orchestrations firmly in the 20th century. Still, the music dissolves the fabric of time, transporting listeners back to a simpler, more innocent era filled with fantastic legends and magical landscapes.
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Bill Douglas - Deep Peace
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Track Listing
- Deep Peace (choral version) 4:48
- Flow Gently, Sweet Afton 4:23
- Piping Down the Valleys Wild 3:47
- The Wandering Moon 3:40
- O Earth, O Earth, Return 4:18
- The Secret Forest 4:25
- The Hills of Glencar 3:56
- Red Rose, Sad Rose 4:50
- Return to Inishmore 3:22
- The Voices of Children 3:50
- Evening Star 3:56
- Irish Lullaby 4:35
- Deep Peace (reprise) 4:23
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- Classic poems by Yeats, Blake, Robert Burns, and Alfred Graves are set into BILL DOUGLAS's lush sonic images of the greenscapes of Ireland, Scotland, and England. A stunning album, with its Celtic source material, sumptuous harmonies, and gorgeous melodies, The mind floats gently across the natural greenscapes of Ireland, Scotland and England through BILL DOUGLAS' sonic images when experiencing Deep Peace-the British Isles in their greatest serenity. But these are no mere landscapes. Rather, Douglas has fitted his vast experience in both jazz and classical music to that great heritage, a tradition of pictures in sound, and the poetry of those who have lived and felt those scenes. Two-thirds of the collection of original works are set to the great poetry of the English-speaking peoples, while the rest are instrumental settings of lyric, melodic invention. The set opens and closes with the title piece, a choral version of the traditional Gaelic blessing, a kind of litany wishing the recipient the peace of "running waves," "the flowing air," "the quiet air," "shining stars" and "gentle night," so that all may "...pour their healing light on you." (A solo vocal version first appeared on Douglas' Jewel Lake, released by Hearts of Space in 1988, 11006-2.)
The other works continue this mood through the idyllic poetry of Robert Burns' "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton," William Blake's "O Earth, O Earth, Return" (his derivation of the Latin prayer Dona Nobis Pacem), "Piping Down the Valleys Wild," and "The Voices of Children." Not to neglect 20th century authors, Douglas also set William Butler Yeats' "Red Rose, Sad Rose" and the lasting wisdom of Alfred Graves ("Irish Lullaby"), who lived well into his 80s, passing on in 1931. "I love poetry almost as much as music," confesses Douglas, "and it is particularly satisfying for me to present these musical settings of some of my favorite poems. For me, these poems express the utmost tenderness, purity, joy and poignancy."
Music can of course be poetic even without words. So Douglas includes the four purely instrumental pieces: "The Wandering Moon" (full of Medieval coloration), "The Silent Forest," "Return to Inishmore" (a rather lively dance tune), and "Evening Star" (on a theme which captures the plaintive nostalgia dear to Vaughan Williams fans). Douglas himself accompanies several of his choral settings. He can be heard playing synthesizers, piano - a Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand no less (the Rolls-Royce of pianos) - and a bassoon (sometimes up to four bassoons overdubbed).
The ARS NOVA SINGERS, under the direction of Thomas Morgan, are a 10-year-old group from the Denver-Boulder area of Colorado, where the composer lives.
Besides insight and poetic perception, Douglas approaches the field of composed folk music from an exceptionally solid background. Already a jazz performer as a teen in his native Canada, he received formal degrees from the University of Toronto and then Yale University, where he studied extensively with avant-garde composer Mel Powell. It was also at Yale that Douglas met clarinetist Richard Stoltzman in 1966, with whom he has toured and recorded ever since as both pianist and bassoonist. With Richard, he plays both jazz and classical music, sometimes with jazz greats Eddie Gomez and Gary Burton. As if that were not enough, Douglas was also at one time a bassoonist with the Toronto Symphony.
After seven years at the California Academy of the Arts, Douglas moved to a teaching position at the progressive Naropa Institute in Boulder, where he currently lives. It was there in the midst of the Central Rockies that Douglas became increasingly interested in the wider areas of world music. Besides his responsibilities for teaching classes in general musicianship, Douglas teaches a far-reaching series in music history, which includes not only the great European traditions but styles as diverse as jazz, gamelan, and Latin American music. His summers are now devoted entirely to composition.
In Douglas' easy flow of sound, craftsmanship becomes a hidden strength. Art escapes earthly gravity as the composer reaches new heights. In recognition of that attainment, Douglas was named 1994 Classical Composer of the Year by Canada's SOCAN, the country's composers' rights organization.
Of Deep Peace, Douglas adds, "I wanted to write the most beautiful melodies that I could, so for inspiration I went to one of the great melodic traditions in the world, the British Isles folk music tradition." It's precisely this inspiration, combined with the lush influence of the Renaissance choral music tradition, that gives Deep Peace its unique beauty.
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Bill Douglas - Earth Prayer
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Track Listing
- Earth Prayer - 4:19
- Spirit Dance - 2:53
- The Splendour Falls - 4:00
- Clouds - 5:15
- Wind of Delight - 3:13
- The Veils of Stars - 3:57
- In Lovely Blue - 3:42
- Circle of Stones - 3:08
- The Minstrel's Wish - 4:16
- Lona - 3:54
- Magic Circle - 4:25
- Chalice - 3:33
- As Dreams Are Made Of - 5:22
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Earth Prayer - BILL DOUGLAS' seventh album for Hearts of Space - once again features the ARS NOVA SINGERS, whose radiant vocals graced Bill's two previous albums, and continues to draw lyrical inspiration from English classical poets Shakespeare, Tennyson, Yeats, Traherne and Shelley. Earth Prayer joins his signature melodic gifts and poignant instrumentals in a heartfelt tribute to our planet.
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Bill Douglas - Eternity's Sunrise
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Track Listing
- Heaven in a Wild Flower - 4:32 (MP3)
- The Hills of Glencar - 3:53 (MP3)
- Into the Twilight - 3:38 (MP3)
- Flow Gently, Sweet Afton - 4:17
- Farther Than the Stars - 6:36
- My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose - 4:16
- Return to Inishmore - 3:19
- I Shall Not Live in Vain - 4:21
- Karuna - 5:31
- Earth Prayer - 4:19
- Elegy - 6:05
- Tara - 4:03
- O Earth, O Earth, Return - 4:16
- Deep Peace (Choral Version) - 4:53
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Eternity's Sunrise, celebrates the melodic gifts of Bill Douglas, collecting fourteen of his most popular compositions from six of his Hearts of Space albums. Douglas' Uniquely orchestrated music mixes chorus, woodwinds and percussion with his own piano, synthesizer and bassoon, and features the radiant ensemble voices of the ARS NOVA SINGERS, with lyrics drawn from English classical poets: Shakespeare, Tennyson, Yeats, Traherne and Shelley.
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Bill Douglas - Homeland - A Prayer For Peace
release date: Tue Aug 13 2002
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Track Listing
- Shenandoah - 3:41 (RA)
- Begin Sweet World - 3:11 (RA)
- In Memoriam (September 11, 2001) - 4:31 (RA)
- Homeland - 4:10 (RA)
- Sanctus - 3:56 (RA)
- Desert Star - 3:46 (RA)
- Blue Sky, White Rock - 2:29
- Beauty Bright - 3:34
- Entering the Dream - 3:40
- Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair... - 4:09
- Prayer for Peace - 3:45
- Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child - 2:55
- The Water Is Wide - 3:36
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Joined by The Ars Nova Singers, Homeland - A Prayer For Peace celebrates the beauty of the American folk song tradition and offers a prayer for peace.
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Bill Douglas - Jewel Lake
release date: Wed Oct 31 2001
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Track Listing
- Angelico
- Highland
- Lullaby
- Infant Dreams
- Killarney
- Hymn
- Dancing In the Wind
- Folk Song
- Flower
- Karuna
- Caroline
- Innisfree
- Deep Peace
- Jewel Lake
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Bill Douglas' Jewel Lake is probably best described as a mainstream new age electro-acoustic album, with Bill on electronic keyboards, piano, and bassoon, accompanied by oboe, flute, voice, and ethnic percussion.
Bill Douglas came to my attention through his ongoing 20-year-plus collaboration with clarinet superstar and Yale classmate Richard Stoltzman. Bill has played keyboards and bassoon on all of Stoltzman's RCA hits - Begin Sweet World, New York Counterpoint, and Innervoices - and written over 50% of the original music on the albums.
I've always felt that the ability to write melodies is one of the real benchmarks in music, regardless of style. As you'll hear throughout this album, Bill Douglas is naturally endowed with the gift of creating absolutely gorgeous, unforgettable melodies.
Not quite as obvious is his background in pop - his first band did Elvis covers in Canada in the '50s - his years as a classical bassoonist in the Toronto Symphony, his work as a jazz improviser, his stint as an avant garde composer at Cal Arts, or his "Rock Etudes" -- creative rhythm studies used by music educators around the world, not to mention his hilarious, over-the-edge concertizing with the BOULDER BASSOON BAND. What we have here is a truly eclectic musician.
For his Hearts of Space debut, we concentrated on Bill's melodic, space-creating ballads, but that didn't prevent him from including "Highland" and "Killarny," a couple of wonderfully joyous Irish folk dances (he says its his Scotch-Irish ancestry coming through), a darkly exotic Spanish/Moorish piece ("Karuna"), and an exquisitely beautiful song featuring soprano JANE GRIMES, based on an ancient Gaelic blessing ("Deep Peace").
Overall, Jewel Lake is probably best described as a mainstream new age electro-acoustic album, both in terms of emotional content and variety of source material.
Instrumentation is Bill on electronic keyboards, piano, and bassoon, plus fine performances on oboe, flute, vice, and ethnic percussion by several Boulder area musicians. It was a total pleasure to produce, and I'm confident that listeners are going to love it.
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Bill Douglas - Kaleidoscope
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Track Listing
- Sapphire 4:32
- Sweet Rain 4:26
- Brilliant Star 3:34
- Voyage 4:13
- Open Sky 4:08
- Golden Apples of the Sun 4:21
- Night Journey 5:29
- Windhorse 3:03
- Cradle Song 4:21
- Nocturne 4:44
- Noble Heart 4:35
- En Priere 4:05
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- On Kaleidoscope, in addition to BILL DOUGLAS' hybrid classical/jazz/electronic folk foundation and trademark melodic lyricism, he's gone all-out and added an array of gleaming highlights from Celtic, North African, West African, Indian, and South American music and instruments.
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
and walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
-William Butler Yeats
Producer and former Nightnoise member BILLY OSKAY collaborated on pre-production for BILL DOUGLAS' Kaleidoscope, basic piano tracks on several tunes, and the arrangement for Voyage and declared Bill "a monster keyboard player." As a result you'll hear a lot more prominent piano work on this album.
Also new is the use of electric bass throughout in the agile, virtuoso hands of fellow Boulder musician DEAN PEER (who literally wrote the book on bass harmonics), and the solid-but-sensitive trap drumming of LARRY THOMPSON on several tunes. Other Denver-area musicians include classical symphony players BIL JACKSON on clarinet, DAVID LOCKINGTON on cello, ANNE STACKPOLE on flute, and ALEXA ZIRBEL on oboe.
GEOFF JOHNS returns to anchor Bill's hand drum section, with the addition of TY BURHOE on tabla and additional frame drums. And former Windham Hill and Celestial Harmonies vocalist THERESE SHROEDER-SHEKER contributes a radiant - verging on angelic - rendition of W.B.Yeats's famous poem "Song of the Wandering Aengus," here titled "Golden Apples of the Sun."
All in all, you'll find Kaleidoscope a scintillating twelve-course banquet for the ear.
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Bill Douglas - Songs of Earth & Sky
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Track Listing
- Feast 4:05
- The Cloud 5:19
- Balyshannon 3:25
- My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose 4:18
- The Smile of a Breeze 3:47
- The Echoing Green 2:45
- Lady of the Lake 4:06
- Wind of the Western Sea 4:08
- The Secret Rose 3:39
- Autumn Song 3:23
- Willow 4:04
- The Gardens of Loch Nair 4:09
- I Shall Not Live in Vain 4:23
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- On Songs of Earth and Sky, BILL DOUGLAS follows the musical path that he pioneered on his superb Deep Peace. Working once again with the ARS NOVA SINGERS, Douglas creates choral settings for the most beloved poems from the English Classical poetic tradition. "If you liked the original, you're going to love the sequel." While it's rare that this sentiment is expressed about a favorite book or movie, it's a safe bet that fans of last year's Deep Peace will be enthralled by BILL DOUGLAS' new album Songs of Earth and Sky. Returning for this release are the ARS NOVA SINGERS, some of the world's greatest poets, intricate, lovely, and spirited melodies, and superb ensemble playing. What's added is an air of earthiness and celebration to complement the depth of thought and feeling inherent in the immortal words of the poets.
The album takes its title from both the contrasting musical moods of the pieces herein and the imagery present in the poems. Percy Bysshe Shelley's "The Cloud" leads things off, and is a perfect illustration of the Earth and Sky dichotomy:
I am the daughter of earth and water,
And the nursling of the sky;
I pass through the pores of the oceans and shores;
I change, but cannot die.
Also represented in the choral pieces are Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Wind of the Western Sea," William Blake's "The Echoing Green," Robert Burns' immortal "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose," Shakespeare's "Willow," and Douglas' version of "I Shall Not Live in Vain," which combines verse from both Emily Dickinson and Blake to excellent effect.
As for the choral arrangements, they are sheer poetry themselves. Performed flawlessly by the Colorado-based Ars Nova Singers, conducted by Thomas Morgan, they hearken back to the works of Renaissance-era composers for whom choral arranging was a way of life. Which is not at all surprising, given that Douglas describes his choral composition technique as being most influenced by Josquin de Prez (1440-1521),Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), and William Byrd (1543-1623).
The instrumental ensemble playing is also up to the usual high standard that we've come to expect on all of Bill Douglas' recordings. Douglas himself deftly handles piano, synthesizer and bassoon chores, while sundry woodwinds take their turns with melody. And, since he has written some of the most memorable tunes for clarinet in the modern era (owing to his 30 years of collaboration with Richard Stoltzman), it will surprise no one that clarinet takes the occasional lead on several of Songs of Earth and Sky's seven instrumental pieces, particularly "Lady of the Lake" and "The Gardens of Loch Nair." But the album also features solo piano on the Bachlike "Autumn Song," oboe and flute trading melody lines on "The Secret Rose," and the (goosebump inducing) interplay of piano and clarinet playing in harmony on "The Smile of a Breeze." For anyone who enjoys a good Celtic romp, there's "Feast" and "Balyshannon," manual dexterity for flute and violin (nee fiddle).
In short, like Deep Peace before it, Songs of Earth and Sky combines the words of the great Western poets with the melodic gifts of a celebrated contemporary tunesmith to a brilliant end. Or, to put it in an earth and sky metaphor: Lightning of the brightest kind has struck once again.
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Bill Douglas - Stepping Stones
release date: Tue Jul 13 2004
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Track Listing
- Azure
- Leap
- Elegy
- Fool On The Hill/Julia
- In Lovely Blue
- Folk Song
- Prelude
- Riverrun
- Home
- Karuna
- Jewel
- Caroline
- Everywhere
- She Walks In Beauty
- Lullaby
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"Stepping Stones," Bill Douglas' twelfth album, is probably his most personal and intimate yet. The recording is comprised completely of solo piano pieces and explores a wide range of tempos of beautifully written originals and interpretations of two of Douglas' favorite Beatles' songs: "Fool on the Hill" and "Julia." Douglas is an internationally acclaimed musician whose fans span all generations and musical tastes. His compositions have been played by major orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, The London Symphony and the Tokyo Philharmonic. In 1994, SOCAN (Canadian equivalent of BMI or ASCAP) presented him with their classical composer of the year award. As a jazz pianist, Bill has toured and recorded with vibraphonist Gary Burton and bassist Eddie Gomez. He also tours and records with Richard Stoltzman, and leads the Boulder Bassoon Band. He currently teaches music history and technique classes at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO.
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