GM3027 Bill DeArango: Anything Went

How many jazz musicians can you think of who performed and recorded with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Red Norvo, Ben Webster and Sarah Vaughan in the 1940s and are still playing modern jazz? Born in 1921, Bill DeArango started his musical career playing with local Dixielanders as a child, moved on to play with the preeminent beboppers and now joins forces with today’s tenor saxophone master Joe Lovano. Along the way, DeArango has won respect and admiration for his technical and harmonic mastery, as well as his aggressive and precise soloing, displayed in recent years with Lovano, Kenny Werner, Jamey Haddad and Paul Motian.

After leaving the army in 1944, Bill settled in New York City, where he was active on the national scene until 1947. He then returned to Cleveland, his home town, where he has studied composition, taught and played for the past 49+ years.

Thanks to producer Gunther Schuller, DeArango is presented here as a bandleader for the first time since 1954. According to Harvey Pekar, “Bill DeArango has had a singular career and is easily one of the greatest of all jazz guitarists, an opinion that any critic or musician who hears him will share.”