Bill Berry, Trumpet, 1930, Benton Harbor, MI
During the mid '40s Bill traveled the midwest territory bands, and in 1951 entered the air force for five years. He later studied music at the Cincinnati College of Music and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While in Boston he played with Herb Pomeroy's band and then went on the road with Woody Herman's band. In the early '60s he made his home in New York and worked mainly with Maynard Ferguson. Around 1961 he toured with Duke Ellington, and became known for the obligato he played for the tap dancer Bunny Briggs, on Ellington's album My People. Thereafter Berry mainly worked regular television and studio jobs ,recording with such bands as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra, and a big-band of his own that he formed in1964. In the early '70s Bill made his home on the West Coast and formed another big-band ,called the L.A. Big Band. The group took it's inspiration from the music of Duke Ellington. They performed and recorded extensively, and appeared successfully at the Concord and Monterey Jazz Festivals. Its sidemen have included Blue Mitchell, Cat Anderson, Britt Woodman, Marshall Royal, and Richie Kamuca. During the '80s Bill made several foreign tours with Louie Bellson and Benny Carter.
Oliver Lake, Saxophone, 1942, Marianna, AR
Oliver grew up near St. Louis and began playing drums as a youngster, but took up the alto sax at the age of eighteen. Later, he also studied the flute. After earning his music degree at Lincoln University in 1968, he went to work as a teacher in the public schools, played in rhythm-and-blues bands, and led the Black Artists Group (BAG). He worked in Paris for a couple of years in the early '70s with a quintet made up of BAG members. Around 1975 he moved to New York where he has performed free jazz and classical music with small groups and as a soloist. Lake was a founding member of the another group, The World Saxophone Quartet, in 1976. The next year he staged " The Life Dance of Is," a theatrical piece for which he wrote both music and poetry, and in 1979 he presented a program of compositions for string quartet at Carnegie Hall. As the leader of the highly commercially successful quintet, Jump Up, (1981-84) he added a new and startling dimension to his music: the group provided a reggae foundation as a support to his characteristically screaming, chromatic melodies. He played all of the saxophones with the quintet, and he also sang. In the mid '80s he performed and recorded in Italy and New York.
Joseph Jarman, Saxophone, 1937, Pine Bluff, AR
