b. William Henry Bauer, 14 November 1915, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, d. 17 June 2005, New York City, New York, USA. One of the few jazz guitarists of his generation to avoid the influence of Charlie Christian, Bauer's most famous associations were with Woody Herman and Lennie Tristano. During his time with Herman (the 1944-46 First Herd), Bauer also recorded extensively with small spin-off groups, including those led by Bill Harris, Chubby Jackson and Flip Phillips. One of Bauer's improvised solo features with the Herd, "Billy Bauer's Tune", was later formalized under the title "Pam". When the First Herd folded, Bauer played with bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden; he was also with Charlie Ventura's interesting, if short-lived, big band. This same period, the late 40s, saw him entering a somewhat different musical world as a member of Tristano's trio (later sextet). By 1949, Tristano had started to experiment with a form of jazz in which musicians improvised in unison without predetermined key signatures or orthodox structures. Bauer's precise, metallic playing fitted well into these surroundings, which proved to be of only limited appeal to fans. Bauer continued to work in jazz from the 50s onwards, recording with the band of J.J. Johnson-Kai Winding and with Tristano, Lee Konitz and others, but most of his time was spent in studio work and in operating his own music publishing company.

Listen to Billy Bauer at Finetune.

• (2000)  Plectrist

• Lady Estelle's Dream
• Blue Mist
• Lullaby of the Leaves
• You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
• It's a Blue World

• Lennie Tristano
• Bud Powell
• Cecil Taylor
• Lee Konitz
• Archie Shepp
• Charlie Parker
• John Coltrane
• Miles Davis
• Bill Evans
• Bill Evans Trio
• Cecil Taylor Quartet
• Charles Mingus
• Eric Dolphy
• John Coltrane Quartet
• Lester Bowie
• Michel Petrucciani
• Miles Davis Quintet
• Ornette Coleman
• Steve Kuhn
• The Charles Mingus Duo

• eddielin11