Billy Childs is a versatile improvisational jazz pianist and composer whose talents have been recognized with over ten Grammy nominations and a Guggenheim Fellowship award. Mr. Childs has performed with several influential jazz artists including J.J. Johnson and Joe Henderson before landing a deal with Wyndam Records in 1988. He subsequently released Take For Example, This…, the first of four critically-acclaimed albums for the label. Mr. Childs acknowledges legends like Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock as his early jazz influences, and attributes his love of composition to classical composers such as Paul Hindemith and Igor Stravinsky. This broad range of influences results in his own “neoclassical” style which crosses musical boundaries. Over the course of his versatile career, Childs has collaborated with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, and the Kronos Quartet. He oversaw the Grammy-winning project The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan by Diane Reeves in 2000.
I had the honor of spending a little time with Mr. Childs ahead of his upcoming performance as The Wisconsin Union Theater welcomes Billy Childs and the UW Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, February 9th at 8:00pm at the Play Circle. Mr. Childs will join the UW Jazz Orchestra on stage for an exciting opening act. We discuss what can be expected from the event, including this unique opening appearance with our local jazz orchestra. We get into how the the 2018 Grammy Award winning Best Jazz Instrumental Album, “Rebirth” came together and how he finds his place in the space of artists like Sting and the Kronos Quartet. This week, he has been taking part in yet another musical exploration with students as he is in residence at Manhattan School of Music, so we make sure to find out what has been going into the week working as/on several projects, with fresh new artists.
