ビリー・バング
バイオリン奏者。作曲家。
ビリー・バングは、プレイヤーとして、バンド・リーダーとして、コンポーザーとして、作曲家として、現在のジャズ表現の最先端に位置する、最も注目されるアーチストの一人です。
1947年9月20日、米国アラバマ生まれ。ニューヨーク市のハーレムに移り、中学の時にバイオリンを手にし、マサチューセッツ大学進学予備校に通う傍ら、音楽活動を開始。18歳の時に合衆国陸軍に徴兵され、ベトナム戦争に従軍。戦争から戻ると政治的にアクティブになり、反戦活動に従事。
60年代後半、ジョン・コルトレーン、エリック・ドルフィー、オーネット・コールマンを始めとするフリー・ジャズ運動の解放エネルギーに啓発され、音楽活動に復帰。 ニューヨーククイーンズ大学に通い、70年代にはニューヨーク・アバンギャルドの主要メンバーとなる。
1977年、ギタリストのJames Emeryとコントラバス奏者のジョン・リンドバーグと共に「String Trio of New York」を結成し、1982年から、サン・ラーのアーケストラに加入して10年間にわたり活動。1990年には、トランペット奏者のアーマッド・アブドラと共にSolomonic Quartetを結成。1996年にベルリンに移住し、ヨーロッパに活動の拠点を移す。打楽器奏者Kahil El'Zabar、アート・アンサンブル・オブ・シカゴのベーシスト、マラカイ・フェイヴァースと共にデュエットまたはトリオで活動。
現在は、カナダJustin Timeレコードに所属して、ベトナム戦争の体験に基づくVietnam: The Aftermath ( 2001) 、総括とも言えるVietnam: Reflections (2004)をリリース。Kahil El'Zabarとのデュエット・ツアーなど、精力的な活動を展開している。
Solo:
Distinction without a Difference (hat Hut <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat_Hut> , 1979)
Commandment (No More, 1997)
As leader:
Sweet Space (Anima, 1979)
Rainbow Gladiator (Soul Note <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Note> , 1981)
Invitation (Soul Note, 1982)
Bangception, Willisau 1982 (hatOLOGY, 1982)
Outline No. 12 (Celluloid, 1983)
The Fire from Within (Soul Note, 1984)
Live at Carlos 1 (Soul Note, 1986)
Valve No. 10 (Soul Note, 1991)
A Tribute to Stuff Smith (Soul Note, 1992)
Spirits Gathering (CIMP <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIMP> , 1996)
Bang On! (Justin Time <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Time> , 1997)
Big Bang Theory (Justin Time, 1999)
Vietnam: The Aftermath (Justin Time, 2001)
Vietnam: Reflections (Justin Time, 2004)
Collaborations:
Billy Bang & Charles Tyler: Live at Green Space (Anima, 1982)
String Trio of New York <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_Trio_of_New_York> : First String (Black Saint <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saint> , 1979)
String Trio of New York: Area Code 212 (Black Saint, 1980)
String Trio of New York: Common Goal (Black Saint, 1981)
String Trio of New York: Rebirth of a Feeling (Black Saint, 1983)
String Trio of New York: Natural Balance (Black Saint, 1986)
William Hooker/Billy Bang Duo: Joy (Within)! (1994-95)
Sirone Bang Ensemble: Configuration (Silkheart, 2004)
The violin is hardly the first instrument that comes to mind when you think about jazz, but that's never daunted Billy Bang, one of the instrument's most adventurous exponents.
Over the past 26 years Bang's hard-edged tone, soulful sense of traditional swing and evocatively expressive style has enhanced over two dozen albums by top names in a variety of genres, from the blistering funk of Bootsy Collins and the harmolodic groove of Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society to the intergalactic uproar of Sun Ra.
With more than 15 albums under his own leadership, nearly a dozen more in co-led endeavors, and five more with the String Trio of New York (which he co-founded in 1977 with guitarist James Emery and bassist John Lindberg), Billy Bang is one of the more prolific and original members of the progressive scene.
Born William Vincent Walker in Mobile, Alabama in 1947, his family moved to New York City's Harlem while he was still an infant. In junior high school he was nicknamed Billy Bang after a cartoon character, and over his initial protests, it stuck. Around the same time, his primary interest turned to music, and he took up the violin, switching to percussion in the early '60s when he became captivated by Afro-Cuban rhythms.
While attending a Massachusetts prep school under full scholarship, he met and began playing with fellow-student, folk-singer Arlo Guthrie. Drafted into the army following graduation, Bang was sent to Vietnam, an experience that profoundly affected his life, often quite painfully. Returning home and radicalized, Billy became active in the anti-war movement, and by the late '60s had returned to music.
Heavily inspired by the exploratory fire of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and the liberating energy of the free-jazz movement, Bang returned to the violin as his principal means of expression. Attending New York's Queens College, and studying privately with renowned violinist Leroy Jenkins, Bang became a key member of the dynamic New York avant-garde scene of the '70s.
Forming his own group, The Survival Ensemble, and working with artists like David Murray, Frank Lowe, William Parker and the legendary Sam Rivers, Billy began to reach an international audience in 1977 with the String Trio, remaining with the cooperative ensemble for nine years.
During these same years he continued to tour and record with his own ensembles, as well as genre-busting ensembles like The Decoding Society and Bill Laswell's Material (alongside guitar giant Sonny Sharrock). He even briefly led his own funk-oriented band, Forbidden Planet, and in 1981 taught at the University of Nebraska.
He continued to work and collaborate with notables like Murray, Don Cherry and James 'Blood ' Ulmer, and in 1982 began a ten-year association with the incomparable Sun Ra, concluding with a 1992 quartet recording for Soul Note, "A Tribute to Stuff Smith," dedicated to the father of the jazz violin.
In 1990, Bang formed the Solomonic Quartet with trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah, and continued to freelance and lead his own groups.
Relocating to Berlin in 1996 where he lived until 2000, Bang criss-crossed the Atlantic frequently, performing all over Europe and doing five tours through the South and Midwest with percussionist Abbey Rader, three of which included tenorman Frank Lowe.
He also began a regular working relationship with percussionist Kahil El'Zabar in 1996, performing in duet, and sometimes as a trio with esteemed Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder and bassist Malachi Favors Maghostut.
Currently, Bang records for Canada's Justin Time Records, for which he recorded "Bang On" in 1997 and "The Big Bang Theory" in 1999. His latest CD (released in October 2001) entitled "Vietnam: The Aftermath" evokes and confronts the memories of his Vietnam experiences and showcases the fine compositional skills that have always marked his own recordings.
Returning to New York in 2000, Bang has continued his busy schedule, touring Europe in the Fall of 2001 with David Murray, continuing a musical interaction that has lasted over 25 years with a series of concerts and a collaborative dance work in Birmingham, England.
He also tours Europe in November 2001 and the U.S. in January 2002 in duet with El'Zabar; and performs in England with the fusion ensemble Sonicphonics, with whom he's worked since 1998.
A dazzling improviser, excellent composer, and provocative leader, Billy Bang remains on the cutting-edge of jazz expression.
