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Biography
: This article is about the American trumpeter/composer: for the designer of board game s, see Bill Dixon (game designer) . Infobox musical artist| name = Bill Dixon | image = | caption = | background = non_performing_personnel | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = birth date|1925|10|5| death_date = dda|2010|6|16|1925|10|5| instrument = | origin = Nantucket, Massachusetts , United States | genre = Jazz | occupation = Composer , visual artist , educator , musician | years_active = 1960& ndash;2010 | label = | associated_acts = Archie Shepp , Cecil Taylor | website = | notable_instruments = Bill Dixon (October 5, 1925 & ndash; June 16, 2010) was an United States|America n musician, composer , visual artist , and educator . Dixon was one of the seminal figures in the free jazz movement. He played the trumpet , flugelhorn , and piano , often using electronic delay and reverberation as part of his trumpet playing.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p6406/biography|pure_url=yes Allmusic biography
Biography
Dixon hailed from Nantucket, Massachusetts . His family later moved to Harlem, New York City when he was about 7.cite news| url= http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/music/20dixon.html | work=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Ratliff | title=Bill Dixon, 84, Voice of Avant-Garde Jazz, Dies | date=June 19, 2010 His studies in music came relatively late in life, at the Hartnette Conservatory of Music (1946–1951). He studied painting at Boston University and the WPA Arts School and the Art Students League. During the early 1950s he had a job at the United Nations, and founded the UN Jazz Society.cite news|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/22/bill-dixon-obituary|title=Free-jazz trumpeter with a hypnotic, slow-moving sound|last=Fordham|first=John|date=22 July 2010|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=12 June 2011|location=London
In the 1960's Dixon established himself as a major force in the jazz avant-garde movement.cite news| url= http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/music/20dixon.html | work=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Ratliff | title=Bill Dixon, 84, Voice of Avant-Garde Jazz, Dies | date=June 19, 2010 In 1964, Dixon organized and produced the 'October Revolution in Jazz', four days of music and discussions at the Cellar Café in Manhattan. The participants included notable musicians Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra among others. It was the first free-jazz festival of its kind. Dixon later founded the Jazz Composers Guild , a cooperative organization that sought to create bargaining power with club owners and effect greater media visibility. He was relatively little recorded during this period, though he co-led some releases with Archie Shepp and appeared on Cecil Taylor 's Blue Note record Conquistador! in 1966.
He was Professor of Music at Bennington College , Vermont , from 1968 to 1995, where he founded the college's Black Music Division. From 1970 to 1976 he played "in total isolation from the market places of this music", as he puts it. Solo trumpet recordings from this period were later released by Cadence Jazz Records , and later collected on the self-released multi-CD set Odyssey along with other material.
He was one of four featured musicians in the Canadian documentary Imagine the Sound (along with Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, and Paul Bley ), 1981.
In recent years he recorded with Cecil Taylor, Tony Oxley , William Parker (musician)|William Parker , Rob Mazurek , and many others.
On June 16, 2010, Bill Dixon died in his sleep at his home after suffering from an undisclosed illness.cite news| url= http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/music/20dixon.html | work=The New York Times | first=Ben | last=Ratliff | title=Bill Dixon, 84, Voice of Avant-Garde Jazz, Dies | date=June 19, 2010 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/06/16/rip-experimental-jazz-trumpeter-bill-dixon/
Discography
As leader
; Soul Note Records
1980: Bill Dixon in Italy volumes 1 & 2 with Alan Silva , Freddie Waits
1981: November 1981 with Silva, Laurence Cook , Mario Pavone
1964: Bill Dixon 7-tette/Archie Shepp and the New York Contemporary 5 (Savoy, split LP)
1967: Intents and Purposes (RCA)
1981: Considerations 1 & 2 (Fore)
1984: Collection (Cadence)
1999: Berlin Abbozzi ( Free Music Production ) with Matthias Bauer, Klaus Koch (Musiker)|Klaus Koch , Tony Oxley
2001: Odyssey (Archive Editions)
2007: 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound (Aum Fidelity)
2008: Bill Dixon with Exploding Star Orchestra (Thrill Jockey)
2009: Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12)
2011: Envoi (Victo)
As sideman
Conquistador! (Blue Note, 1966, Cecil Taylor)
Opium for Franz (Pipe, 1977, with Franz Koglman)
The Enchanted Messenger: Live from Berlin Jazz Festival (Soul Note, 1996)
Taylor/Dixon/Oxley (Victo, 2002, with Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley)
Bill Dixon/Aaron Siegel/Ben Hall: Weight/Counterweight (Brokenresearch, 2009)
As producer or composer
The Marzette Watts Ensemble: The Marzette Watts Ensemble (Savoy, 1969) (producer and composer)
Marc Levin and his Free Unit: The Dragon Suite (BYG, 19? ? ) (producer)
Jacques Coursil Unit: Way Ahead (BYG, 1969) (composer)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/collections/wcuw_festivals/1979.html Audio Recordings of WCUW Jazz Festivals - Jazz History Database
http://www.bill-dixon.com/ His official site
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php? id=33956 "Bill Dixon: In Medias Res" (feature article/interview by Clifford Allen)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/arts/music/20dixon.html? scp=1& sq=bill%20dixon%20jazz& st=cse New York Times obituary
Persondata | NAME =Dixon, Bill | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =October 5, 1925 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH =June 16, 2010 | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Bill Category:1925 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American jazz flugelhornists Category:American jazz pianists Category:Free jazz trumpeters Category:Musicians from Massachusetts Category:People from Nantucket, Massachusetts Category:Black Saint/Soul Note artists Category:RCA Records artists Category:People from Bennington County, Vermont Category:Avant-garde jazz trumpeters
