Biography
William Reese Perkins, 22 July 1924, San Francisco, California, USA, d. 9 August 2003, Sherman Oaks, California, USA. Having started out on a career as an electrical engineer, tenor saxophonist Perkins was in his mid-twenties before he made an appearance in Jerry Wald’s band in 1950. The following year he was with Woody Herman’s Third Herd and by 1953 was in Stan Kenton’s band. The rest of the 50s were spent alternating between Herman and Kenton during which time his reputation as a subtly inventive soloist grew steadily. His playing at this time was derived from Lester Young by way of Stan Getz, although he was also influenced by Richie Kamuca, who was with him in both the Herman and Kenton bands. His light, relaxed style made him a natural for the currently active west coast school of music. In 1956 he recorded with John Lewis, Richie Kamuca, Art Pepper and others and in 1959 was on Pepper’s highly successful Plus Eleven.
Read the Full Biography of Bill Perkins
|
OLDIES.com on
|
