Billy Bauer, 89, an Early Modern Jazz Guitarist, Dies
NY Times
Billy Bauer, one of the first modern jazz guitarists and later a renowned guitar teacher, died on Friday in Melville, N.Y. He was 89 and lived in Albertson, N.Y. The cause was complications of pneumonia, said his daughter, Pamela.
Mr. Bauer first gained national attention in 1944 for his work with Woody Herman’s big band, an ambitious ensemble with a repertory including Igor Stravinsky’s “Ebony Concerto.” He later performed and recorded with Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker and many others. But he was best known for his association with the pianist and composer Lennie Tristano, whose idiosyncratic, harmonically complex brand of modern jazz was considered challenging even by his fellow modernists.
Mr. Bauer had been primarily a rhythm guitarist before joining Tristano’s group in 1946. But he quickly mastered Tristano’s distinctively serpentine melody lines, and under the pianist’s guidance he developed into a compelling soloist.
“Lennie was a strong player,” Mr. Bauer recalled in 2000. “Even though I didn’t know what he was doing all the time, I had to follow him. With a player that strong, you had no choice!”
Mr. Bauer took part in some of Tristano’s most celebrated recordings, including an experiment in spontaneous improvisation in 1949 that presaged the so-called free jazz of a decade later. He also worked frequently with two other members of Tristano’s group, the saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. In 1958 he formed a music publishing company, William H. Bauer Inc., which published all three musicians’ compositions as well as his own.
William Henry Bauer was born in the Bronx on Nov. 14, 1915. His first instruments were banjo and ukulele, and he began his career at 14 playing banjo on the radio, but he soon switched to guitar. He was playing electric guitar in dance bands by 1940.
Although he established himself as a leading voice on his instrument in the late 40’s, Mr. Bauer - who called his autobiography “Sideman” - always said he preferred to work in support of other musicians. He recorded only one album as a leader, the 1956 quartet session “Plectrist.” And by the mid-70’s, after several years in recording and broadcast studios, he had virtually abandoned performing to become a full-time teacher.
Sideman: The Autobiography of Billy Bauer
