Jazz Articles about Billy Bang

Billy Bang: Vietnam: The Aftermath

by Matt Rand
June 22, 2002

After a particularly intense solo, Frank Lowe slung his tenor saxophone over his right shoulder and looked toward the floor. Covered by a large knit cap, Billy Bang's tenor player held the pose throughout the trumpet solo, seemingly unaware of the machine gun his instinctive stance suggested he was carrying. It was a private moment that he offered the audience, a glimpse at the enduring distress of the accidental soldier. The evening's performance was filled with such moments, ...

Billy Bang: Vietnam: The Aftermath

by Jim Santella
May 1, 2002

The CD itself is painted olive drab. The cover features other shades of green in faded photographs. The music moves evenly with a peaceful country air. Dirges, dances, ceremonial rites, a little dramatic counterpoint, and swinging anthems take on surreal qualities through Billy Bang's compositions.

It's been a long time, but those memories linger. We were there to do a job, but no one could avoid immersion in the culture that ran so very different from our own. ...

Billy Bang: Vietnam: The Aftermath

by AAJ Staff
December 1, 2001

Violinist Billy Bang, now in his sixth decade, has had a lot of powerful experiences throughout his life. When he was 19, he headed off to Vietnam for over a year of service, and then returned to join the anti-war movement. His musical experiences after that point drew him close to some of the most progressive players in the the free jazz movement. But not content to stay rooted in one place, he experimented with free funk, the avant-garde, and ...

Billy Bang: Big Bang Theory

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2000

Following up on his 1997 Justin Time release, “Bang On," Billy Bang seems to keep fiddling below the radar screen of many jazz enthusiasts, despite his individual style and the unpredictable directions his improvisations, or even his stage mannerisms, may take. For Billy Bang is a violinist whose ideas truly seem to be spur-of-the-moment as inspiration radiates, sometimes with physical embellishments, from his instrument to his audiences.

On “Big Bang Theory," Bang's repertoire is familiar, seeing as how it includes ...