Exploring Jazz Music One Musician at a Time

Billy BangAn excerpt from the New York Times: "Billy Bang, a violinist whose gritty, expressive and spirited playing earned admiration in contemporary jazz circles, died on Monday at his home in Harlem. He was 63.

The cause was complications of lung cancer, said Jean-Pierre Leduc, his friend and agent.

Prominent as a bandleader and a sideman throughout the 1980s and ’90s, Mr. Bang achieved his most substantial success with the 2001 album “Vietnam: The Aftermath”. It featured music inspired by his time serving in the Army during the Vietnam War, played with peers who had also served. The album — and a 2005 sequel, “Vietnam: Reflections”, which included Vietnamese musicians — in turn inspired “Redemption Song”, a 2008 documentary film about him."

RIP, sir.

The first 5 videos are of the Billy Bang Quintet performing at NYC's Savoy Theater two months ago (4 Feb 2011):

This last video is of the Billy Bang Quintet performing at The Knitting Factory in New York City back in 2000:

Click here to read and listen to A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz's tribute to Billy Bang.

What are your memories of his music? Now that I've read about his life and challenges, I want to check out both Vietnam: The Aftermath and Vietnam: Reflections. I know that some of my readers either served in the Vietnam War or were affected by having family members serve in it. What are your thoughts about Vietnam as time moves on? I'd really like to hear about that.

I can't end this post without giving a shoutout to Robert Posey aka @regretblues on Twitter!