Bill Mays

For other people named William Mays, see William Mays (disambiguation).
Bill Mays
Birth nameWilliam Allen Mays
Born (1944-02-05) February 5, 1944 (age 80)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1960s–present
LabelsConcord Jazz, DMP, Palmetto
Websitebillmays.net

William Allen Mays (born February 5, 1944), known professionally as Bill Mays, is an American jazz pianist from Sacramento, California.

Biography[edit]

Mays came from a musical family and at the age of 15 became interested in jazz at an Earl Hines concert.

From 1969 to the early 1980s Mays worked as a studio session musician in Los Angeles. He has been an accompanist to singers Al Jarreau, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Dionne Warwick, and also worked with artists such as Don Ellis, Mel Lewis, Barry Manilow, Shelly Manne, Bob Mintzer, Red Mitchell, Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Sonny Stitt, Paul Winter, Phil Woods and Frank Zappa. In 1984, he moved to New York City and began to do more work as a bandleader, composer, and arranger. He has recorded over three dozen albums under his own name, and has been heard on hundreds more by others.

Discography[edit]

As leader[edit]

  • A Musical Cocktail: The Music of Cole Porter (MCR, 1976)
  • Two of a Mind with Red Mitchell (ITI, 1983)
  • Tha's Delights with Shelly Manne, Andy Simpkins, Ralph Moore, Tom Harrell (Trend, 1983)
  • One to One with Ray Drummond (DMP, 1990)
  • One to One 2 with Ray Drummond (DMP, 1991)
  • Kaleidoscope with Peter Sprague, Dick Oatts, Harvie Swartz, Jeff Hirshfield (The Jazz Alliance, 1992)
  • Live At Maybeck - Concord Duo Series Volume Seven with Ed Bickert (Concord Jazz, 1994)
  • Live At Maybeck (Concord Jazz, 1995)
  • An Ellington Affair with Lewis Nash, John Goldsby(Concord Jazz, 1995)
  • Mays in Manhattan with Marvin Stamm, Ed Neumeister, Jon Gordon, Sean Smith, Tim Horner (Concord Jazz, 1996)
  • Out in Pa. with Matt Wilson, Martin Wind(No Blooze Music, 1999)
  • By Ourselves with Marvin Stamm (Marstam, 2000)
  • Summer Sketches (Palmetto, 2001)
  • Going Home (Palmetto, 2003)
  • Bick's Bag with Neil Swainson, Terry Clarke (Triplet, 2004)
  • Live at Jazz Standard (Palmetto, 2005)
  • Live at Birdland NYC, Stamm/Soph Project (Jazzed Media, 2005)
  • Beyond the Red Door with Bud Shank (Jazzed Media, 2007)
  • Stuffy Turkey with Joe La Barbera, Mattias Svensson (Five Stars Records, 2009)
  • Blue Rondo a la Turk with Keisuke Ohta (Five Stars Records, 2009)
  • The Best Is Yet To Come with Joe La Barbera, Rwu Kawamura (Five Stars Records, 2010)
  • Mays at the Movies (SteepleChase, 2010)
  • Phil & Bill with Phil Woods (Palmetto, 2011)
  • Front Row Seat Solo (©Bill Mays, 2015)
  • Live at COTA (No Blooze Music, 2019)
  • Mays Plays Mays (No Blooze Music, 2019)

With Inventions Trio

  • Fantasy (Palmetto, 2007)
  • Delaware River Suite (No Blooze Music, 2008)
  • Life's a Movie (Chiaroscuro, 2013)

With Road Work Ahead

  • Night And Day (Trend, 1983)
  • On The Road Again (SBE, 1998)
  • Intersection (SBE, 2012)

As sideman[edit]

With Carter Burwell

  • Gods and Monsters (RCA Victor/BMG, 1998)
  • The Man Who Wasn't There (Decca, 2001)
  • The Alamo (Hollywood, 2004)
  • Hail Caesar! (Back Lot/Universal 2016)

With Elliot Goldenthal

  • Cobb (Sony Classical, 1994)
  • Interview with the Vampire (Geffen, 1994)
  • Sphere (Varese Sarabande, 1998)

With Benny Golson

With Bob Magnusson

  • Revelation (Discovery, 1979)
  • Two Generations of Music (Trend, 1982)

With Barry Manilow

  • Even Now (Arista, 1978)
  • One Voice (Arista, 1979)
  • Barry (Arista, 1980)
  • If I Should Love Again (Arista, 1981)
  • I Wanna Do It with You (Arista, 1982)
  • 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe (Arista, 1984)

With Bud Shank

  • Heritage (Concord Jazz, 1978)
  • Crystal Comments with Bud Shank and Alan Broadbent (Concord Jazz, 1980)
  • Explorations: 1980 with Bud Shank (Concord Concerto, 1980)
  • Silver Storm (Raw, 2000)
  • On the Trail (Raw, 2002)
  • Fascinating Rhythms (Jazzed Media, 2009)

With Bobby Shew

  • Class Reunion (Sutra, 1980)
  • Outstanding in His Field (Inner City, 1980)
  • Play Song (Jazz Hounds, 1981)
  • Telepathy with Bobby Shew (Jazz Hounds, 1982)
  • Shewhorn (Pausa, 1986)

With Frank Zappa

  • Bognor Regis (Dragonfly, 2006)
  • One Shot Deal (Zappa, 2008)
  • Orchestral Favorites 40th Anniversary (Zappa, 2019)

With others

External links[edit]

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