Bill Mays

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Allen Mays (February 5, 1944) is a jazz pianist from Northern California who is normally referred to as "Bill Mays." He came from a musical family and at sixteen he became interested in jazz at an Earl Hines concert.

From 1969 to the early 1980s he worked in Los Angeles accompanying Sarah Vaughan, Al Jarreau, and other singers, and also worked with artists such as Art Pepper and Red Mitchell. Later, in 1984, he moved to New York City. He has been best known as a sideman or accompanist, but starting in the 1990s he began to do more work as a bandleader, composer, and arranger. From the 1970s on, he recorded over a dozen albums under his own name, and has been heard on many more by others.