Bill Carrothers

Bill Carrothers
File:CarrothersAQ.jpg Carrothers at the Artists' Quarter in 2013.
Background information
Born	1964 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Jazz, post-bop
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, educator
Instruments	Piano, Fender Rhodes
Years active	1979–present
Website	www.carrothers.com

Bill Carrothers (born 1964 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a jazz pianist and composer based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He has cited Clifford Brown, Shirley Horn, and Oscar Peterson as influences on his development as a musician. Carrothers performs without shoes to better feel the piano pedals, and sits in a chair rather than on a traditional piano bench in order to achieve his preferred seating height.

Career

Carrothers began playing piano at age five, studying with his church organist before learning jazz from Twin Cities pianist Bobby Peterson. By age 15 he was performing in Twin Cities jazz clubs, and in 1982 he briefly attended North Texas State University. Following his year at university, Carrothers re-settled in the Twin Cities and was a member of Irv Williams' band before moving to New York City in 1988. During his five year stint in New York he performed at the Knitting Factory, The Village Gate, and Birdland as well as Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. Throughout his career, Carrothers has played live with a variety of musicians including Buddy DeFranco, Curtis Fuller, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Gary Peacock, Dewey Redman, Charlie Rouse, James Spaulding, Terell Stafford, Toots Thielemans, and Prince. Carrothers has performed throughout Europe, in France at the New Morning, Nevers Jazz Festival, and Marciac Festival, in Belgium at the Audi Jazz Festival and Jazz Middelheim, and he headlined the Rising Star Tour in October, 2000 through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In July, 2009, Carrothers played a week-long stand at the Village Vanguard with his European trio (Nicolas Thys and Dre Pallemaerts), a recording of which was released in 2011. In his home state of Michigan, Carrothers performed a solo piano concert at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in April, 2010, and he made his Monterey Jazz Festival debut in September, 2011. He is also a regular on the Chicago scene, having performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Green Mill, and The Jazz Showcase. In 2011, Carrothers became an adjunct professor at Lawrence University in Wisconsin.

Awards and critical reception

Carrothers was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque for Jazz in 2004 and was nominated for the Les Victoires du Jazz (French Grammy Award equivalent) in 2005 and 2011. He has also been featured in top ten lists published by Jazz Magazine, Le Monde, and JAZZIZ Magazine. Down Beat called him "a probing, intelligent player" with "a beautiful touch and a wide stylistic range" who "never sounds less than a musician who thinks on his feet and channels emotions freely."

Discography

As leader

• The Artful Dodger (Bridge Boy Music, 1987)
• The Blues and the Greys (Bridge Boy Music, 1997)
• A Band In All Hope Ye Who Enter Here (Bridge Boy Music, 1997)
• After Hours, Vol. 4 (Go Jazz, 1999)
• The Language of Crows (Bridge Boy Music, 1999)
• Swing Sing Songs (Warner Bros., 2001)
• The Electric Bill (Dreyfus Records, 2002)
• Duets with Bill Stewart (Dreyfus Records, 2002)
• Ghost Ships (Sketch, 2003)
• Armistice 1918 (Sketch, 2004)
• I Love Paris (Pirouet, 2005)
• Shine Ball (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2006)
• No Choice (Minium Music, 2006) duets with Marc Copland
• Keep Your Sunny Side Up (Pirouet, 2007)
• Civil War Diaries (Bridge Boy Music, 2007)
• Home Row (Pirouet, 2008)
• Play Day (Bridge Boy Music, 2008)
• Apnea (Abeat, 2009)
• Joy Spring (Pirouet, 2010) tribute to Clifford Brown
• A Night at the Village Vanguard (Pirouet, 2011)
• Excelsior (Outnote, 2011)
• Castaways (Pirouet, 2012)
• Family Life (Pirouet, 2012)
• Sunday Morning (Vision Fugitive, 2013)
• Love and Longing (La Buissonne, 2013)

As sideman

With Kevin Brady

• Common Ground (LRP, 2007)
• Zeitgeist (LRP, 2009)

With Scott Colley

• Subliminal (Criss Cross Jazz, 1998)

With Dave Douglas

• Moving Portrait (DIW, 1998)

With Jay Epstein

• Long Ago (GoneJazz, 1997)
• Easy Company (GoneJazz, 2009)

With Jean-Marc Foltz

• To the Moon (Ayler Records, 2011)

With Ray Gehring & Commonwealth

• Radio Trails (Evan Music, 2009)

With Phil Grenadier

• Playful Intentions (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2003)

With Happy Apple

• Part of the Solutionproblem (No Alternative, 1998)

With Gordon Johnson

• Trios (Tonalities, 1996)

With Dave King

• I've Been Ringing You (Sunnyside, 2012)

With Pat Mallinger

• Home on Richmond (PJM, 2011)
• Elevate (PJM, 2014)

With David Redmond

• Roots (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2013)

With Andy Scherrer

• Wrong is Right (TCB Records, 2008)

With Bill Stewart

• Snide Remarks (Blue Note, 1995)
• Telepathy (Blue Note, 1997)
• Space Squid (Pirouet, 2016)

With Ira Sullivan

• After Hours, Vol. 5 (Go Jazz, 2001)

With Kevin Tkacz

• It's Not What You Think (Piece of Work of Art, 2008)

With Matt Turner

• The Voices That Are Gone (Illusions, 2008)

With Robin Verheyen

• Starbound (Pirouet, 2010)

With Bobby Z.

• Bobby Z (Atlantic, 1990)