Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

violinist and composer.

Biography

Bang's family moved to New York City's

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a child he attended a special school for musicians in nearby

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

.Hull, Tom.
Billy Bang Is in the House
,

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

, published October 3, 2005, accessed July 17, 2007. At that school, students were assigned instruments based on their physical size. Bang was fairly small, so he received a violin instead of either of his first choices, the saxophone or the drums. It was around this time that he acquired the nickname of "Billy Bang", derived from a popular cartoon character.Kelsey, Chris. " Billy Bang – Biography,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, accessed July 17, 2007. Bang studied the violin until he earned a hardship scholarship to the

Stockbridge School Stockbridge School was a progressive co-educational boarding school for adolescents near the Interlaken section of Stockbridge, Massachusetts and which operated from 1948 to 1976. History The school was founded by the World War II German refug ...

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is ...

, at which point he abandoned the instrument because the school did not have a music program.Jung, Fred.
A Fireside Chat With Billy Bang
, AllAboutJazz.com, published November 14, 2003, accessed July 17, 2007. He had difficulty adjusting to life at the school, where he encountered racism and developed confusion about his identity, which he later blamed for his onset of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social w ...

. Bang felt that he had little in common with the largely privileged children at the school, who included Jackie Robinson, Jr. (son of baseball star

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

) and

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gu ...

, and he struggled to reconcile the disparity between the wealth of the school and the poverty of his home in New York. He left the school after two years and attended a school in the Bronx. He did not graduate, decided not to return to school after receiving his draft papers, and at the age of 18, he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

.Redwine, Nancy.
Big Bang Theory
",

The Santa-Cruz Sentinel The ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California, covering Santa Cruz County, California, and owned by Media News Group. Ottaway Community Newspapers, a division of Dow Jones & Company bought the paper in 198 ...

, published November 11, 2004, accessed July 17, 2007. Bang spent six months in

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

and another two weeks learning jungle warfare, arriving in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

just before the

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...

. Starting out as an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

man, he did one tour of combat duty, rising to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

before he mustered out. After Bang returned from the war, his life lacked direction. The job he had held before the army had been filled in his absence. He pursued and then abandoned a law degree, before becoming politically active and falling in with an underground group of revolutionaries. The group recognized Bang's knowledge of weapons from his time in the Army, and they used him to procure firearms for the group during trips to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, buying from pawnshops and other small operators who did not conduct extensive background checks. During one of these trips, Bang spotted three violins hanging at the back of a pawnshop, and he impulsively purchased one. He later joined

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

's band. In 1977, Bang co-founded the

String Trio of New York The String Trio of New York is an American jazz chamber ensemble. The group was founded in 1977, by bassist John Lindberg, violinist Billy Bang, and guitarist James Emery. Though they initially worked on improvisational playing and on their ow ...

(with guitarist James Emery and double bassist John Lindberg). Billy Bang explored his experience in Vietnam in two albums: ''Vietnam: The Aftermath'' (2001) and ''Vietnam: Reflections'' (2005), recorded with a band which included several other veterans of that war. The latter album also features two Vietnamese musicians based in the United States (voice and '' đàn tranh'' zither). Bang died on April 11, 2011. According to an associate, Bang had had lung cancer. He had been scheduled to perform on the opening day of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival on June 10, 2011. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Discography

As leader

* 1977: ''Black Man's Blues'' (& Survival Ensemble) (Unissued NoBusiness 2011) * 1978: ''New York Collage'' (& Survival Ensemble) (Anima Recs reissued as NoBusiness 2011) * 1979: ''Distinction Without a Difference'' (

hat Hut Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

) * 1979: ''Sweet Space'' (Anima) * 1981: '' Rainbow Gladiator'' (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

) * 1981: ''Changing Seasons'' (Bellows) * 1982: '' Invitation'' (Soul Note) * 1982: ''Bangception, Willisau 1982'' (hatOLOGY) * 1982: ''Live at Green Space'' (Anima) * 1983: ''Outline No. 12'' (

Celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporary ...

) * 1983: ''Bangception'' (Hat Hut) * 1984: '' The Fire from Within'' (Soul Note) * 1986: '' Live at Carlos 1'' (Soul Note) * 1991: '' Valve No. 10'' (Soul Note) * 1992: '' A Tribute to Stuff Smith'' (Soul Note) * 1996: ''Spirits Gathering'' (

CIMP Creative Improvised Music Projects, usually abbreviated CIMP or C.I.M.P., is an American jazz record company and label. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine'' and Cadence Jazz Records. The label is noted for its minimal use of electronic proc ...

) * 1997: ''Bang On!'' ( Justin Time) * 1997: ''Commandment'' (No More) * 1999: ''Big Bang Theory'' (Justin Time) * 2001: ''Vietnam: The Aftermath'' (Justin Time) * 2003: ''Hip Hop Bebop'' (ITM) * 2004: ''Vietnam: Reflections'' (Justin Time) * 2005: ''

Configuration Configuration or configurations may refer to: Computing * Computer configuration or system configuration * Configuration file, a software file used to configure the initial settings for a computer program * Configurator, also known as choice bo ...

'' ( Silkheart) with

Sirone Sirone ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,270 and an area of .Al ...

* 2007: ''Above and Beyond: An Evening in Grand Rapids'' (Justin Time) * 2008: ''Live at the Sunset'', FAB trio (Fonda/Altschul/Bang) (

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

) * 2009: ''Four Seasons - East meets West'' (Heart Lord Studio, Japan) * 2010: ''Prayer for Peace'' (TUM) * 2013: ''Da Bang!'' (TUM) With the

* '' First String'' (Black Saint, 1979) * ''

Area Code 212 Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open su ...

'' (Black Saint, 1980) * '' Common Goal'' (Black Saint, 1983) * '' Rebirth of a Feeling'' (Black Saint, 1983) * '' Natural Balance'' (Black Saint, 1986)

As sideman

With

Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah (born Leroy Bland; May 10, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter who was a prominent member of Sun Ra's band. Biography He began playing the trumpet at age 13 in his native New York City. One of the first groups he performed with wa ...

* ''Tara's Song'' * '' Traveling the Spaceways'' (Planet Arts, 2004) With Marilyn Crispell * '' Spirit Music'' (Cadence, 1983) With

Kahil El'Zabar Kahil El'Zabar (born Clifton Blackburn; November 11, 1953) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist (mainly a percussionist) and composer. He regularly records for Delmark Records. Life and work El'Zabar was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attend ...

* ''

Big Cliff ''Big Cliff'' is an album by American jazz percussionist Kahil El'Zabar and his Ritual Trio, which also includes saxophonist Ari Brown and bassist Malachi Favors, and the guest appearance of violinist Billy Bang. It was recorded live in 1994 at t ...

'' ( Delmark, 1995) * ''The Power'' (CIMP, 2000) * ''

Spirits Entering ''Spirits Entering'' is an album by percussionist Kahil El'Zabar and violinist Billy Bang. It was recorded during May 1998 at Riverside Studio in Chicago, and was released in 2001 by Delmark Records. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Alex Hend ...

'' (Delmark, 2001) * ''If You Believe...'' (8th Harmonic Breakdown, 2002) * '' Live at the River East Art Center'' (Delmark, 2005) * '' Big M: A Tribute to Malachi Favors'' (Delmark, 2006) With The Group (

Marion Brown Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongsi ...

, Bang,

Fred Hopkins Fred Hopkins (October 11, 1947 – January 7, 1999) was an American double bassist who played a major role in the development of the avant-garde jazz movement. He was best known for his association with the trio Air with Henry Threadgill and S ...

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer ...

) * ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music * Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of album ...

'' (recorded in 1986, issued in 2012 by NoBusiness Records) With William Hooker * ''Joy (Within)!'' (1995) With John Lindberg * '' Dimension 5'' (Black Saint, 1981) With William Parker * ''

Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace ''Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace'' is an album by bassist William Parker, his debut as a leader. It was recorded during 1974–1979, and was initially released on LP in limited quantities by Parker's Centering label in 1980. In 1998, the ...

'' (Centering, 1980) * ''

Scrapbook Scrapbook may refer to: * Scrapbooking, the process of making a scrapbook Software * Scrapbook, an early (1970s) information storage and retrieval system * Scrapbook (Mac OS), a Mac OS application * ScrapBook, a Firefox extension Film and TV ...

'' (

Thirsty Ear Thirsty Ear Recordings is an American independent record label. It was founded in the late 1970s as a marketing company for the then-unnamed alternative music field, and expanded to issue its own records in 1990. Thirsty Ear came to prominence ...

, 2003) * '' Wood Flute Songs'' ( AUM Fidelity, 2013) With

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), O ...

* ''

Experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

'' (2004)

References

External links

*
Billy Bang
at Myspace
Billy Bang
discography at

MindSpring EarthLink is an American Internet service provider. It went public on NASDAQ in January 1997. Much of the company's growth was via acquisition; by 2000, ''The New York Times'' described Earthlink as the "second largest Internet service provider ...

Billy Bang
interview by Fred Jung at

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

Billy Bang
audio interview at New England Jazz History Database
Billy Bang
obituary by Steve Smith in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
Billy Bang
bio from

Justin Time Records Justin Time Records is a Canadian record company and independent record label founded in Montreal by Jim West. It was established in 1983 and specialises in jazz and blues. Although Justin Time initially recorded Canadian musicians such as Olive ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang, Billy 1947 births 2011 deaths American jazz violinists American male violinists United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Avant-garde jazz composers Avant-garde jazz violinists CIMP artists Free jazz composers Free jazz violinists Musicians from Mobile, Alabama 20th-century American violinists Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Electric violinists Jazz musicians from Alabama Male jazz composers 20th-century American male musicians String Trio of New York members Justin Time Records artists Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) United States Army non-commissioned officers NoBusiness Records artists