Billy Kilson
Encyclopedia
William Earl "Billy" Kilson (b. August 2, 1962) is an American jazz
drummer.
Kilson was born in Washington, D.C.
. He started on trumpet at ten, switched to trombone at 11, then to drums at 16. He studied at the Berklee College of Music
from 1980 to 1985 and took private lessons from Alan Dawson
during 1982-89. Following this he did a tour of Europe with Walter Davis
.
He has played with Ahmad Jamal
(1989), Dianne Reeves
(1989–95), Greg Osby
(1991), George Duke
(1991–98), Steps Ahead
(1993), Tim Hagans
(1993 and subsequently), Terumasa Hino
(1994–98), Bob James
(1995 and subsequently), Dave Holland
(since 1997), Bob Belden
(1997) and Kevin Mahogany
(1998). Other associations include Kirk Whalum
, Freddie Jackson
, Chris Botti
, Donald Brown
and Paula Cole
.
Kilson is perhaps best known for his work with Holland. He plays on Holland's Grammy Award
-nominated 1999 album Prime Directive and his Grammy-winning 2002 release What Goes Around.
Kilson has also led his own quartet ensemble along with James Genus
and Tim Hagans. His debut release as a leader, Pots and Pans, appeared in 2006.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drummer.
Kilson was born in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. He started on trumpet at ten, switched to trombone at 11, then to drums at 16. He studied at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
from 1980 to 1985 and took private lessons from Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson
Alan Dawson was a respected jazz drummer and widely influential percussion teacher based in Boston. He was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, MA. Serving in the Army for Korean War duty, Dawson played with the Army Dance Band while stationed at Fort Dix from 1951-1953...
during 1982-89. Following this he did a tour of Europe with Walter Davis
Walter Davis, Jr.
Walter Davis, Jr. was an American hard bop pianist.Born in Richmond, Virginia, Davis performed as a teenager with Babs Gonzales and his group Three Bips and a Bop. In the 1950s, Davis recorded with Melba Liston, Max Roach and played with Roach, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie...
.
He has played with Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal is an innovative and influential American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. According to Stanley Crouch, Jamal is second in importance in the development of jazz after 1945 only to Charlie Parker...
(1989), Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
(1989–95), Greg Osby
Greg Osby
Greg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
(1991), George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
(1991–98), Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead is a jazz fusion group and the brainchild of vibraphonist Mike Mainieri. According to the liner notes of the group's 1983 debut album , entitled Steps Ahead, "Steps began as a part-time venture in 1979 at Seventh Avenue South, a New York City nightclub." The group began releasing...
(1993), Tim Hagans
Tim Hagans
Tim Hagans is a jazz trumpeter and composer.He has been nominated for Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition for "Box of Cannoli" from The Avatar Session ; and Best Contemporary Jazz CD for Animation*Imagination and Re-Animation .He grew up in Dayton, Ohio...
(1993 and subsequently), Terumasa Hino
Terumasa Hino
is a Japanese jazz trumpeter. Currently based in New York, Hino is widely acknowledged as one of Japan's finest jazz musicians. His instruments include the trumpet, cornet and flügelhorn.-Biography:...
(1994–98), Bob James
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James is a jazz keyboardist, arranger and producer.-Biography:During the 1970s, Bob James played a major role in establishing the smooth jazz genre. "Angela", the instrumental theme from the sitcom Taxi, is probably Bob James' most well-known work to date...
(1995 and subsequently), Dave Holland
Dave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
(since 1997), Bob Belden
Bob Belden
James Robert Belden is an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer. He is noted for his Grammy Award winning jazz orchestral recording titled The Black Dahlia. He is also a past head of A & R for Blue Note Records.Belden was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in...
(1997) and Kevin Mahogany
Kevin Mahogany
Kevin Mahogany is an American jazz vocalist who became prominent in the 1990s. He is known for his scat singing, and his singing style has been compared with jazz singers Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman....
(1998). Other associations include Kirk Whalum
Kirk Whalum
Kirk Whalum is an American smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He toured as Whitney Houston's opening act for several years. Whalum has also recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz...
, Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson
Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
, Chris Botti
Chris Botti
Christopher Stephen "Chris" Botti , is an American trumpeter and composer. In 2007, Botti was nominated for two Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album. On December 4, 2009, he was nominated for three more Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album and Best Long Form Music Video...
, Donald Brown
Donald Brown (musician)
Donald Ray Brown is an American jazz pianist.Brown was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to play trumpet and drums in his youth. From 1972 to 1975 he was a student at Memphis State University, by which time he had made piano his primary instrument...
and Paula Cole
Paula Cole
Paula Cole is an American singer/songwriter. Her single "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone" reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, and the following year she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.-Early life:...
.
Kilson is perhaps best known for his work with Holland. He plays on Holland's Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated 1999 album Prime Directive and his Grammy-winning 2002 release What Goes Around.
Kilson has also led his own quartet ensemble along with James Genus
James Genus
James Genus is an American jazz bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.Genus was born...
and Tim Hagans. His debut release as a leader, Pots and Pans, appeared in 2006.
As sideman
With Dave HollandDave Holland
Dave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
- Points of ViewPoints of View (album)-Track listing:# "The Balance" - 9:24# "Mister B." - 11:01# "Bedouin Trail" - 8:55# "Metamorphose" - 8:29# "Ario" - 10:24# "Herbaceous" - 9:47# "The Benevolet One" - 7:05# "Serenade" - 6:49...
(1997, ECMECM (record label)ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
) - Prime DirectivePrime Directive (album)-Track listing:# "Prime Directive" - 7:46# "Looking Up" - 13:32# "Make Believe" - 6:25# "A Seeking Spirit" - 11:21# "High Wire" - 6:49# "Jugglers Parade" - 8:14# "Candelight Vigil" - 4:51...
(1998, ECMECM (record label)ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
) - Not for Nothin'Not For Nothin'-Track listing:All compositions by Dave Holland, except as noted.# "Global Citizen" - 11:12# "For All You Are" - 8:19# "Lost And Found" - 9:27# "Shifting Sands" - 5:20# "Billows Of Rhythm" - 6:45...
(2000, ECMECM (record label)ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
) - What Goes AroundWhat Goes Around (album)What Goes Around is Dave Holland's first big band album, released in 2002. It features his working quintet of the period augmented to big band size with a total of 13 members...
(2002, ECMECM (record label)ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
) - Extended Play: Live at BirdlandExtended Play: Live at BirdlandExtended Play: Live at Birdland is a live jazz album recorded at the famous New York city jazz club Birdland in 2001, by the Dave Holland Quintet. It was later released in 2003.- Personnel :*Chris Potter - soprano, alto and tenor saxophones...
(2003, ECMECM (record label)ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
) - Overtime (2005, Dare2)
- Critical Mass (2006, Dare2)
- Pathways (2010, Dare2)