A seasoned veteran, Bill has played the piano professionally for more than 60 years. His vast knowledge of the jazz idiom and repertoire is the result of a life-long musical journey, having begun his professional career at age 15 and playing with bands of all sizes and descriptions.
Bill has traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad playing in bands in a wide range of jazz styles. For more than thirty years he played with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, which at times included backing up vocal groups such as the Ink Spots and the Pied Pipers. He played with many other big bands too, including the Ray McKinley Orchestra, the Glen Miller Orchestra, the Harry James Orchestra, and the University of Illinois Jazz Band. His experience with traditional jazz bands includes the Southern Fried Jazz Band and the New Orleans Jazz Machine. Along with his experience as a jazz pianist, he also plays the drums and has played with bands such as JQ (Jazz Quintet). His passion for jazz has no genre boundary and his interest in avant-garde jazz was realized as pianist and drummer with the band Bass Case.
With a lifetime of experience as a jazz side-man, Bill has performed in special projects including appearances with the Zoot Sims Quintet and the Arnett Cobb Quartet; as a guest pianist with the Champaign-Urbana Prairie Ensemble performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”; as the accompanist for the Zaremba Sax Quintet which played in Montreal, Canada for an international saxophone convention; and as the musical director and pianist for the theater production ‘Fantasticks’ at Parkland Community College in Champaign, Illinois. He is continually sought after to accompany jazz singers, and in the past has accompanied notable singers Vicki Capo and Rachael Lee. He is currently playing with singers Suzanne Callaway of Two Spirit Jazz, Carrie Rambo of The Uptowners, and Amy Weston (daughter of Jo Stafford and Paul Weston).
As a composer, Bill combines his talent of arranging, lyric writing, and often humor to create a unique sound and poetry of his own. Some of his compositions include “Bossa for Emily”, a beautiful and complex melody which appears on CD's Champaign Underground and Rainforestjazz; “Minnesota Funk”, a tune inspired during a short stay in the extreme cold of Minneapolis which appears on CD Bass Case Sessions; and “Uh!”, a fun blues that is popular with audiences. He is also an avid arranger and is often the lead arranger of small ensembles.