Our Daily Dead

NY Times
Bill Potts, a jazz arranger, pianist and educator, died on Feb. 16 in Plantation, Fla. He was 76 and lived in Fort Lauderdale.

The cause was cardiac arrest, said his daughter, Christi Desky.

Mr. Potts first attracted attention in the early 1950’s as chief arranger for the Orchestra, a big band organized by the jazz broadcaster Willis Conover that performed in Washington and was heard on the Voice of America. The Orchestra was known for attracting big-name guest soloists, and Mr. Potts, who was also an audio engineer, recorded concerts at which the ensemble backed up Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Those recordings were later released on LP.

Mr. Potts also worked as pianist, arranger or both with the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich, and with the singers Paul Anka and Bobby Vinton

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under ODD Guests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

LA Times
Bill Potts, a jazz pianist, composer and arranger who scored “The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess,” a vibrant version of the Gershwin folk opera, died of cardiac arrest Feb. 16 at a hospital in Plantation, Fla. He was 76.

Largely a self-taught musician, Potts developed an arranging style that was bold, brassy and swinging. In many ways, his “Jazz Soul” album, written when he was 30, was a precocious interpretation of Gershwin standards. Tunes such as “Summertime” had typically been recorded as slow ballads with a vocal interlude.

In contrast, the 1959 “Jazz Soul” album became a large-scale and boisterous project featuring such jazz heavyweights as Harry Edison, Zoot Sims, Charlie Shavers and Bill Evans.

Potts wrote his arrangements while recuperating from a car accident that left him in a body cast for months.

Under the leadership of producer Jack Lewis, Potts studied the original score and listened to a stack of “Porgy and Bess” versions.
Jazz Soul of Porgy & Bess
Porgy & Bess & Bye Bye Birdie
555 Feet High

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 26th, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under ODD Guests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.