Bill Crow

If diverse talents are something to crow about, then Bill Crow wound up with a nicely descriptive surname, literally much more specific than a nickname such as "Bird," evocative of a flock of different sounds and the image of instrumentalists who soar above any and all technical challenges. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Crow has played a bewildering array of instruments during his career. He is best known as a bassist but is also a trumpeter, saxophonist, trombonist, and drummer. He is also one of the few musicians who has bothered trying to write about his craft, beginning with a series of reviews he contributed to Jazz Review in the late '50s and eventually including a full-length book. He was also in charge of the lighting for an off-Broadway show in 1958, as if he didn't have enough going on already.

Crow's first instrument was the trumpet; he started in fourth grade and continued through baritone horn and valve trombone in various school and military bands. Jazz historians like to align the start of his career with the beginning of the '50s. At that time, Crow transformed himself from a drummer in dance bands entertaining the posh folks to a jazz bassist, but one who was always ready to double or triple on other instruments. He was a trombonist in several Seattle orchestras, one led by a guy nicknamed "Bumps," the other by Buzzy Bridgford. Crow played both trombone and bass for bandleader <a href="spotify:artist:5L4Qx1QRCADhlU2kBhsFwl">Glen Moore</a> in 1952, no relation to the musician of the same name from the Oregon band.

On bass this artist has gigged and recorded with a flock of respectable jazz players, including saxophonists <a href="spotify:artist:0FMucZsEnCxs5pqBjHjIc8">Stan Getz</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K">Gerry Mulligan</a> and pianists <a href="spotify:artist:5pKOfv4XsvzGu3jZW02YKp">Al Haig</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7Ga404k4zEweLxPtX0Ghma">Marian McPartland</a>. Crow took part in baritone man <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K">Mulligan</a>'s sextet and quartet projects in 1956 and 1957, replacing the great <a href="spotify:artist:30OxEKhUI8LpORvCp14lr3">Henry Grimes</a>, then returned for more collaborations in both 1958 and 1959. Several lengthy European tours were part of the <a href="spotify:artist:6l40OFJhuTbHQ9V12evc9K">Mulligan</a> stint. Jazz fans fascinated by the personal background of the genre may find Crow's volume entitled Jazz Anecdotes hard to top. Published in 1991 by Oxford University Press, the book is like a transcription of every story ever told backstage, with all the boring ones cut out. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi