Gold Coast Jazz Society Presents The Bill Mays Trio
Friday Apr 12th, 2013 7:45 pm
Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater
201 SW 5th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Single tickets are $40 per person. Tickets for students and teachers are only $10 with ID.
To purchase tickets, contact the Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office at 954-462-0222 or online at www.browardcenter.org or www.goldcoastjazz.org.

Renowned jazz pianist Bill Mays will perform for the Gold Coast Jazz Society’s 21st Anniversary Jazz Concert Series.  “Mays at the Movies” features the Bill Mays Trio performing jazz arrangements of popular movie soundtracks.

This concert is based on Mays’s recent CD, Mays at the Movies and includes musical selections from some of American’s most popular movies including The Shadow of Your Smile, The Summer Knows, Charade and others.  Drummer Marty Morell and bassist Richard Drexler will fill out the trio for this concert.
 
A jazz pianist, composer and arranger, Mays has played with the best of the jazz world including stints as accompanist for Sara Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Woody Herman and Gerry Mulligan. His bio includes an extensive list of television and movie scores on which he has played or contributed music. He has worked with legendary film composers including Michel LeGrand, Johnny Mandel and Henry Mancini.  To read more about this accomplished jazz musician, go to his website at www.billmays.net.
 
"Gospel music was the first music I heard,” says Bill. “Dad played the trombone, guitar and harmonica (at the same time!), piano and organ, and I have vivid memories of him playing the accordion while my mom sang.   Earl “Fatha” Hines provided Bill’s first exposure to jazz when "a friend took me to a jazz brunch and Fatha was playing solo piano,” recalls Bill. “That was the beginning of a love affair with jazz that continues to this day.”
 
Mays’s jazz career began with the Bill Green Trio in San Diego.  He moved on to Los Angeles where he worked jazz gigs with LA’s best players.   Soon he became a fixture in the Hollywood recording studios as LA’s  first-call pianist for singers where he worked with stars including Dionne Warwick, Anita O’Day, Al Jarreau and Frank Sinatra.
 
Mays moved to New York and began a fruitful affiliation with Palmetto Records in 1999. "That was a major move for me artistically,” says Mays.  “I found a connection with my trio of drummer Matt Wilson and bassist Martin Wind that was truly special.”  Recordings under the Palmetto label include Summer Sketches and Going Home.   In 2009 he assumed the piano chair in the Phil Woods Quartet while continuing to tour with his own trio.  That year he also produced his CD Mays at the Movies with Peter Washington on bass and Billy Drummond on drums on the SteepleChase label.
 
Mays is well-known for his compositional and arranging talents. He has contributed music to the libraries of a wide array of artists including Aureole chamber ensemble, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Percy Faith Orchestra, Woody Herman Orchestra, Morgana King, Shelly Manne, Mark Murphy, Bud Shank, Marvin Stamm, Lew Tabackin, Turtle Creek Chorale and Phil Woods.
 
Currently, Mays tours and records in many varied configurations including a duo with trumpeter Marvin Stamm, the Inventions Trio, The Bill May Trio (featuring Matt Wilson & Martin Wind), duo with Bud Shank, a sextet and as a solo pianist.