William George Maxted (January 21, 1917 – October 11, 2001) was an American jazz pianist.

Career

Maxted began his career in 1937 as a member of the

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. He was one of the most prolific and influential jazz musicians in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appearing on over 4,000 ...

big band, for which he wrote arrangements. After three years, he played with

Teddy Powell Teddy Powell (born Teodoro Paolella; March 1, 1905 – November 17, 1993) was an American jazz musician, band leader, composer, and arranger. Some of his compositions were written under the pseudonym Freddy James. Born in Oakland, California, P ...

Ben Pollack Benjamin "Ben" Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing music, swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Mil ...

, and

Will Bradley Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written o ...

. He served in the U.S. Navy, then wrote arrangements for the big bands of

Claude Thornhill Claude Thornhill (August 10, 1908 – July 1, 1965) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standards "Snowfall" and "I Wish I Had You". Early years Thornhill was the son of J. Chester Thornhill ...

and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

. During 1947, he led a band with

Ray Eberle Raymond Eberle (January 19, 1919 – August 25, 1979) was a vocalist during the Big Band Era, making his name with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. His elder brother, Bob Eberly, sang with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Career Eberle was born in Me ...

and soon after led the Manhattan Jazz Band, which played

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

with

Bob Zurke Bob Zurke (January 7, 1912 – February 16, 1944) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and briefly a bandleader during the Swing era. Biography Born Boguslaw Albert Zukowski in Hamtramck, Michigan, United States, he was already using ...

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, but already developed in African-American communities since the 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually ex ...

piano. During the 1950s, he had a steady job as house pianist at

Nick's Nick's (Nick's Tavern) was a tavern and jazz club located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the borough in Manhattan, New York City, which peaked in popularity during the 1940s and 1950s. It was notable for its position, because most po ...

club in Greenwich Village. He also recorded for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, Brunswick,

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

, and Seeco. In 1958, British bandleader Reg Owen had a major hit on the American charts with Maxted's upbeat instrumental composition, "Manhattan Spiritual", released on the Palette label. In the 1960s, he recorded for K&H and

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

and as a sideman for

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

Pee Wee Erwin George "Pee Wee" Erwin (May 30, 1913 – June 20, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography He was born in Falls City, Nebraska, United States. Erwin started on trumpet at age four. He played in several territory bands before joining the g ...

, and Red Nichols. He moved to Florida in the 1970s, and continued to play around Broward County for many years, including a years long stay at The Beach Club. He died in Fort Lauderdale on October 11, 2001.

Discography

* 1955 ''Billy Maxted Plays Hi Fi Keyboard'' (

) * 1959 ''Dixieland Manhattan Style'' (Cadence) * 1959 ''Jazz at Nick's'' (Cadence) * 1959 ''Bourbon St. Billy and the Blues'' (Seeco) * 1959 ''The Art of Jazz'' (Seeco) * 1961 ''Swingability'' (K&H) * 1963 ''The Big Swingers'' (K&H) * 1966 ''Maxted Makes It!'' (

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxted, Billy 1917 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American pianists American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists Cadence Records artists Dixieland jazz musicians 20th-century American male musicians