Bill O'Connell (born August 22, 1953 in New York City) is a jazz pianist, educator, and bandleader. He is most associated with Latin jazz and hard bop. He studied piano at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, but has mostly lived in NYC or Long Island. He teaches jazz piano at Mason Gross School for the Arts at the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, in New Jersey. He worked with Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins early on in his career. From 1982 to 2017 he has often collaborated and toured with Dave Valentin.

Bill O'Connell
Born (1953-08-22) August 22, 1953 (age 70)
GenresJazz, Latin jazz
Occupation(s)Musician, bandleader, educator
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1978–present

Discography edit

  • 1978 Searching (Inner City Records)
  • 1988 Love For Sale (Bellaphon, Jazz City)
  • 1993 Lost Voices (CTI Records)
  • 1998 The Jazz Slumber Project Directed By Bill O'Connell - Sleep Warm - A Jazz Lullaby Collection (HokanZee Records)
  • 2001 Black Sand (Random Chance)
  • 2010 Rhapsody In Blue (Challenge Records)
  • 2015: The Power Of Two (Panorama)[1]
  • 2016: Heart Beat (Savant)[2]
  • 2018: Jazz Latin (Savant)[3]
  • 2019: Wind Off The Hudson (Savant)[4]

As sideman

With Dave Valentin

Mind Time (GRP, 1987)

References edit

  1. ^ Steve Slagle & Bill O'Connell, The Power Of Two. AllAboutJazz review by Dan Bilawsky, May 29, 2015 - retrieved 31 October 2018
  2. ^ Bill O'Connell and The Latin Jazz All-Stars, Heart Beat. AllAboutJazz review by Edward Blanco, January 14, 2016 - retrieved 31 October 2018
  3. ^ Bill O'Connell, Jazz Latin. Review by Alex Henderson, NYCJR, July 2018, Issue 195, page 22 - retrieved 29 October 2018
  4. ^ Bill O'Connell and The Afro Caribbean Ensemble, Wind Off The Hudson. Review by Scott Yanow, NYCJR, December 2019, Issue 212, page 30 - retrieved 8 December 2019

External links edit