Billy Childs

William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is a jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California.[1]

Early life

When he was sixteen, he attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored by the University of Southern California. He studied music theory with Marienne Uszler and piano with John Weisenfluh. From 1975–'79 he attended the University of Southern California and received a degree in composition under the tutelage of Robert Linn.[2]

His sister is the playwright Kirsten Childs.[3][4]

Childs was playing professionally as a teenager, and he made his recording debut in 1977 with the J. J. Johnson Quintet during a tour of Japan that is documented as the Yokohama Concert. He gained significant attention during his six-years (1978–84) playing with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's group. While influenced early on in his playing by Herbie Hancock, Keith Emerson, and Chick Corea and in his composing by Paul Hindemith, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky, Childs nevertheless had an original conception of his own from near the start, developing his own voice as both a pianist and a composer in jazz and classical music genres.

Solo albums

Childs's solo jazz recording career began in 1988, when he released Take for Example, This..., the first of four critically acclaimed albums on Windham Hill Jazz. He followed that album with Twilight Is Upon Us (1989), His April Touch (1992), and Portrait of a Player (1993). Chick Corea asked Childs to join his label, Stretch Records. Childs's next album, I've Known Rivers appeared on Stretch/GRP (now Stretch/Concord) in 1995. This was followed by The Child Within on Shanachie Records in 1996.

Arranging

In 2000 Childs arranged, orchestrated and conducted for Dianne Reeves's project The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan,[1] which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Other artists and producers for whom Childs has arranged include Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti, Gladys Knight, Michael Bublé, David Foster, Phil Ramone, and Claudia Acuña.

Jazz chamber ensemble

In 2001 Childs formed a chamber jazz group consisting of piano, bass, drums, acoustic guitar, harp, and woodwinds. Sometimes the core group is augmented by string quartet, woodwind quintet, or both. Childs was influenced by Laura Nyro's collaborations with Alice Coltrane (on "Christmas and the Beads of Sweat") and by a desire to merge classical and jazz music.[5] In 2005, the ensemble released its first album, Lyric, Jazz-Chamber Music, Vol. 1, which was nominated for three 2006 Grammy awards: Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Arrangement, winning for best instrumental composition, "Into the Light".

Awards and honors

Classical commissions
  • 1993 Los Angeles Philharmonic,"Tone Poem for Holly" (Esa-Pekka Salonen conductor)
  • 1994 Los Angeles Philharmonic, "Fanfare for the United Races of America" (EsaPekka Salonen conductor)
  • 1995 Akron Symphony Orchestra, "The Distant Land" (Alan Balter conductor)
  • 1997 Akron Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, "Just Like Job" (Alan Balter conductor)
  • 1997 Dorian Wind Quintet, "A Day in the Forest of Dreams" (Billy Childs piano, with Dorian Wind Quintet)
  • 2004 Los Angeles Philharmonic, "For Suzanne" (Dianne Reeves vocal soloist, Billy Childs piano soloist)
  • 2005 Los Angeles Master Chorale, "The Voices of Angels" (Grant Gershon conductor)
  • 2007 American Brass Quintet, "2 Elements" (Billy Childs piano, with American Brass Quintet)
  • 2007 Fontana Chamber Arts, "The Path Among the Trees" (Billy Childs JazzChamber Ensemble with Ying Quartet)
  • 2010 Detroit Symphony, "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" (Regina Carter, soloist)
  • 2012 Ying Quartet, "Awakening String Quartet No. 2" (The Ying Quartet)

Jazz commissions

Discography

Source:[7]

YearAlbumLabelChart
1988Take for Example This...Windham Hill
1989Twilight Is Upon UsWindham HillTop Jazz Albums 11[6]
1991His April TouchWindham Hill
1993Portrait of a PlayerWindham HillTop Jazz Albums 12[6]
1995I've Known RiversStretch
1996Child WithinShanachie
1999Skim CoatMetropolitan
2000Bedtime Stories32 Jazz
2005LyricLunacy Music
2014Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura NyroSony MasterworksTop Jazz Albums 1, The Billboard 200 104[6]
2017RebirthMack AvenueGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album

With Bunky Green

With J. J. Johnson and Nat Adderley

gollark: Like this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16907518/css-input-with-width-100-goes-outside-parents-bound
gollark: Like I said, if I do `width: 100%` on an element it will sometimes do weird things, and I don't want to hardcode fixed sizes.
gollark: That would just cut off bits.
gollark: I don't really understand how it works properly (with width: 100% and stuff mostly), which means there are sometimes random horizontal scrollbars and stuff.
gollark: I mean how it decides element sizes and stuff.

References
  1. Berlanga-Ryan, Esther (12 April 2011). "Billy Childs: The Perfect Picture". All About Jazz. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  2. "Billy Childs: 2009 - US & Canada Competition Creative Arts - Music Composition". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. Nesti, Robert (16 November 2006). "Kirsten Childs on "Bubbly Black Girl"". EDGE Media Network. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017.
  4. Luppi, Kathleen (17 October 2014). "Tapping the 'Treasure' of singer-songwriter Laura Nyro". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017.
  5. Wardle, Renato (11 October 2005). "Billy Childs Ensemble: Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1 (2005)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  6. "Billy Childs: Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  7. "Billy Childs: Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
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