Search - Bill Easley :: Business Man's Bounce

"Whether the genre is blues, rhythm & blues, or hard bop, Bill Easley remains a versatile and often silent practician of musical mastery ... Easley has certainly perfected his craft." -- All About Jazz "Although he has spent much of his career in the background, uplifting other singers and musicians' sessions in addition to working in the studios, Bill Easley shows on this set that he is fully capable of being the leader." -- All Music Guide A brilliant and versatile reed player, Bill Easley performs equally forcefully on alto, tenor, and baritone saxes as well as flute, piccolo, and clarinet. Easley is a renowned session player who has worked with Isaac Hayes and done sessions at Stax. He has performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Benny Carter, George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, Bill Mobley, Victor Gaskin, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate, among others. Bill Easley has also recorded highly acclaimed sessions as a leader on the Sunnyside, Milestone, and Evidence labels. Business Man's Bounce is a term Easley first heard as a teenager when playing in his father's band. It refers to a two-beat feel intended to get even reluctant listeners out onto a club's dance floor. Joining Easley on this set is pianist Larry Ham (Lionel Hampton Orchestra/Illinois Jacquet Big Band), bassist Hassan JJ Shakur aka JJ Wiggins (Duke Ellington Orchestra)who can swing a sick man into good health, and drummer Michael Carvin, an amazingly prolific drummer who has contributed greatly to the jazz scene and played with the likes of B.B. King, Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, and McCoy Tyner.