Billy Hart


Billy Hart is an American jazz drummer and educator.

Biography

Hart was born in Washington, D.C., where early on in his career he performed with soul artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, and then later with Buck Hill and Shirley Horn, and was a sideman with the Montgomery Brothers, Jimmy Smith, and Wes Montgomery. Following Montgomery’s death in 1968, Hart moved to New York, where he recorded with McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul, and played with Eddie Harris, Pharoah Sanders, and Marian McPartland.
Hart was a member of Herbie Hancock's sextet, and played with McCoy Tyner, Stan Getz, and Quest, in addition to extensive freelance playing.
Since the early 1990s, Hart has been associated with Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and is also adjunct faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music and Western Michigan University. He also conducts private lessons through the New School and New York University. The drummer often contributes to the Stokes Forest Music Camp and the Dworp Summer Jazz Clinic in Belgium.
He has led a group with Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and Ben Street, is featured in a trio led by pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, another led by guitarist Assaf Kehati, and has performed in a band known as the Cookers, with Eddie Henderson, David Weiss, Craig Handy, George Cables and Cecil McBee, all who have toured extensively and recorded two CDs.
Hart resides in Montclair, New Jersey.

Discography

As leader

With Quest
With Franco Ambrosetti
With Pepper Adams
With Kenny Barron
With Walter Bishop Jr.
With Paul Bley
With Hamiet Bluiett
With Joanne Brackeen
With Nick Brignola
With George Cables
With Catalyst
With Arnett Cobb
With Johnny Coles
With Larry Coryell
With Stanley Cowell
With Buck Clarke
;With Albert Dailey
With Miles Davis
With Richard Davis
With Joey DeFrancesco
With Dave Douglas
With Ray Drummond
With Charles Earland
With Yelena Eckemoff
With Teddy Edwards
With Sonny Fortune
With Chico Freeman
With Hal Galper
With Carlos Garnett
With Stan Getz
With Dick Griffin
With Herbie Hancock
With Billy Harper
With Eddie Harris
With Eddie Henderson
With Buck Hill
;With Shirley Horn
With The Jazztet
With Duke Jordan
With Jimmy Knepper
;With Lee Konitz
with Harold Land
With Andy LaVerne
With Azar Lawrence
With Charles Lloyd
With Joe Lovano
With Pat Martino
  • Exit
  • Live at Yoshi's
With Bennie Maupin
With Cecil McBee
  • Mutima
  • Flying Out
With Mingus Dynasty
  • Live at Montreux
  • Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1
  • Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 2
With Wes Montgomery
  • Live at Jorgies Jazz Club
  • Live at Jorgies Jazz Club and More
With Ralph Moore
  • 623 C Street
With Frank Morgan
With James Mtume
With Tisziji Munoz
With James Newton
With Judy Niemack
With Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
  • Trio 1
  • Trio 2
  • Dancing on the Tables
  • Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Quartet – Dancing on the Tables
With Hannibal Marvin Peterson
  • Hannibal Marvin Peterson, The Sunrise Orchestra – Children of the Fire
  • Naima
With Doug Raney
  • Introducing Doug Raney
  • Cuttin' Loose
  • Stolen Moments with Jimmy Raney
  • Listen
  • Guitar Guitar Guitar
  • Something's Up
With Pharoah Sanders
  • Karma
  • Izipho Zam
  • Black Unity
With Iñaki Sandoval
  • Miracielos
With Jarmo Savolainen
  • First Sight
  • True Image
With Zbigniew Seifert
  • Man of the Light
With Wayne Shorter
  • Odyssey of Iska
With Jimmy Smith
With Idrees Sulieman
With Charles Sullivan
  • Genesis
  • Re-Entry
With Horace Tapscott
With Buddy Terry
  • Pure Dynamite
With McCoy Tyner
  • Asante
  • Sama Layuca
With Warren Vaché
  • Horn of Plenty
With Tom Varner
  • Tom Varner Quartet
  • Motion/Stillness
With Buster Williams
  • Pinnacle
  • Crystal Reflections
  • Heartbeat
  • Dreams Come True
With Joe Zawinul
  • Zawinul
With others'