Daily Dose Of Jazz…

William Root was born March 6, 1934 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was raised in a musical family. His father, a drummer in Philadelphia ensembles, took him to the Earle Theater at an early age, where big bands from Ellington, Basie and Lunceford performed. At the age of ten he learned the saxophone, at the age of 16 he played briefly with Hot Lips Page.

During the early 1950s, he began performing professionally and toured with the Hal McIntyre Orchestra, then returned to his hometown and played in local jazz clubs. Billy played as a member of the house band in appearances with Clifford Brown, Roy Eldridge, Red Rodney, Buddy Rich, Hal McIntyre, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and Kenny Dorham. In 1953 he went to New York, where he played with Bennie Green in an orchestra at the Apollo Theater, which was conducted by Earle Warren.

Root went on to play and record with 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, as well as working as an accompanist for Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine.

For family reasons, Root stopped touring in the early 1960s, from then on worked in local clubs and studied flutes, clarinet and bass clarinet for seven years before playing in various orchestras in Las Vegas, such as in 1968 in the Philadelphia Orchestra at performances of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris. In Las Vegas he worked from 1968 with stars such as Tony Bennett and Peggy Lee.

By 1968, settling in Las Vegas, Nevada he played live in casinos for the next two decades, often backing vocalists like Tony Bennett and Peggy Lee. Tenor and baritone saxophonist Billy Root, who recorded as a soloist on several sessions and on no less than ten albums over the course of his career as a sideman, passed away on July 30, 2013.

More Posts: history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone