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William “Billy” Root was born March 6, 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was raised in a musical family, his father played drums in Philadelphia ensembles.

Root began playing professionally in the early 1950s, with Roy Eldridge, Hal McIntyre, Red Rodney, Bennie Green, and Buddy Rich. Later in the decade he worked extensively with Stan Kenton and with Rodney, as well as with Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, and Curtis Fuller.

He led his own ensembles from the late 1950s. In the 1960s he performed with Al Grey and Dakota Staton, and in 1968 settled in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saxophonist Billy Root played the casinos for the next two decades before retiring.

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