Bill Crow


William Orval Crow is an American jazz bassist. Among other work, Crow was the long-term bassist in saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's bands in the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

Crow was born on December 27, 1927 in Othello, Washington but spent his childhood in Kirkland, Washington. In fourth grade, he took up the trumpet. When he joined the Army in 1946, he started to play brass instruments. He remained 9n the army until 1949. After leaving the Army, he played drums and trombone while a student at the University of Washington.

Later life and career

In 1950, Crow moved to New York City. Within two years of starting to play the double bass, he played with Teddy Charles and was with Stan Getz from October 1952 to April of the following year. He was part of Gerry Mulligan's groups as a bassist during the mid to late 1950s.
"Crow joined the house band at Eddie Condon's club in 1965 and then played with Walter Norris’s small group, which was one of the house bands at the Playboy Club in New York." "From 1975 into the late 1990s he worked in theater orchestras for Broadway shows."
He wrote a book called Jazz Anecdotes that was published by Oxford University Press in 1991. His autobiography, From Birdland to Broadway, was released by the same publisher two years later.

Discography

As leader

With Gerry Mulligan
With Stan Getz
with Zoot Sims
With Bob Brookmeyer
With Al Cohn
with Clark Terry
with Marian McPartland
With J. J. Johnson
With Al Haig
With Jimmy Cleveland
With Milt Jackson
With others