Quick Facts
AriesBiography
William Barron, Jr. (March 27, 1927 – September 21, 1989) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.
Barron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first appeared on a Cecil Taylor recording in 1959, and he later recorded extensively with Philly Joe Jones and co-led a post-bop quartet with Ted Curson. His younger brother, pianist Kenny Barron, appeared on all of the sessions that the elder Barron led. Other musicians he recorded with included Charles Mingus and Ollie Shearer.
Barron also directed a jazz workshop at the Children's Museum in Brooklyn, taught at City College of New York, and became the chairman of the music department at Wesleyan University. He recorded for Savoy, recording that label's last jazz record in 1972, and Muse. The Bill Barron Collection is housed at the Institute of Jazz Studies of the Rutgers University libraries.
Barron died in Middletown, Connecticut.
Discography
As leader
- 1961: The Tenor Stylings of Bill Barron
- 1962: The Leopard (Chiaroscuro Records)
- 1962: Modern Windows - A Jazz Suite from the New 'Soul'
- 1962: Hot Line - The Tenor of Bill Barron
- 1963: West Side Story Bossa Nova
- 1972: Motivation
- 1978: Jazz Caper
- 1987: The Next Plateau
As sideman
With Kenny Barron
- Lucifer (Muse, 1975)
With Cecil Taylor
- Love for Sale (1959)
With Philly Joe Jones
- Showcase (Riverside, 1959)
- Philly Joe's Beat (Atlantic, 1960)
With Ted Curson
- Plenty of Horn (Old Town, 1961)
- Tears for Dolphy (Fontana, 1964)
- Flip Top (Freedom, 1964 [1977])
- The New Thing & the Blue Thing (Atlantic, 1965)
- Snake Johnson (Chiaroscuro, 1981)
With Charles Mingus
- Mingus Revisited
With Sam Rivers
- Crystals (Blue Note)