Bill Carrothers

Bill Carrothers (born in Minneapolis, 1964) began his career as a teenager, when he played with local bands in his hometown; then in 1988, he moved to New York City. Carrothers has played many venues throughout the U. S. and Europe including the Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Audi Jazz Festival in Brussels, the Nevers Jazz Festival (where he shared the bill with Abbey Lincoln), the Montreal Jazz Festival , Jazz Middelheim, and the Marciac Festival in France. At his last album Love and longing (2013, La Buisonne) Carrothers proofs his singing is of high level.

Pianist Bill Carrothers gets personal in Family Life. Entering the stream of Americana flowing straight down the middle of jazz, Carrothers produces his Kinderszenen (1838) after German composer Robert Schumann, or, at the very least, his Woodland Sketches (1896) after American composer Edward MacDowell. Family Life is is a carefully constructed set of musical miniatures capturing a national essence, that indefinable thing that made Aaron Copland Aaron Copland, George Gershwin George Gershwin, Duke Ellington Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk.

All three here are equally credited, as composers as well as players, on the opening track and the pervasive title track. Carrothers is credited for a further six, and his known ability to ferret out the improbable from the available for the rest of it offers the sense of his overall control. He's a fine pianist technically, never flashy for the sake of it; Stewart's worked with him before and is always on his wavelength; Denner I know nothing about except what's here and he's always intriguing.

Bill Carrothers - Shine Ball (2005) {Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 242}
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© 2005 Fresh Sound New Talent | FSNT 242
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Piano

Bill Carrothers has been a professional pianist for over 20 years. He has played many venues throughout the U.S. and Europe including the Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Audi Jazz Festival in Brussels, the Nevers Jazz Festival (where he shared the bill with Abbey Lincoln), the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, and the Marciac Festival in France. In October of 2000, Mr. Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He has been a leader on nine recordings, all of which have received critical acclaim. His sideman credits have included some of the greatest names in jazz.

Bill Carrothers Trio - A Night At The Village Vanguard (2011) {2CD Set, Pirouet PIT3056 rec 2009}
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© 2011 Pirouet Records | PIT3056
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Pirouet's first live and first double CD - with pianist Bill Carrothers' trio. The Album relives an entire concert: the first set - CD1, the second set - CD2. An evening at the legendary Village Vanguard jazz club with the trio of one of the best American jazz pianists of the last twenty years is passed on, and you can listen to sparkling, shimmering piano-trio jazz - music that has many a heady, exciting story to tell.

Bill Stewart - Space Squid (2015) {Pirouet Records PIT3089}
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© 2015 Pirouet Records | PIT3089
Jazz / Cool Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Intelligence / Drums

Bill Stewart is the furthest thing from a basher. His taste and intelligence and counterintuitive relationships to time have made him a favorite drummer of people like John Scofield and Pat Metheny. In press notes, the genesis of Space Squid is described: “Stewart had some new compositions that he wanted to record.” Such a motivation is no doubt common, but does not always lead to albums that convey a deep reason to exist, or that feel like unified works.

Dave Douglas has a superb experienced trio supporting him on Moving Portrait. The session consists of the trumpeter's compositions plus three by Joni Mitchell. Douglas feels that the words, music, and meaning of Mitchell's songs provide an excellent starting place for his ensemble to improvise in jazz. Like all forms of art, the result is a session that includes drama, variety, and a story that attaches different meanings to each viewer or listener. Douglas' music evolves from the hard bop idiom, with special care given to the presentation of his unique ideas. The trumpeter uses a soft attack, round tone, fluid articulation, and unlimited imagination to honor beauty in various forms. Pianist Bill Carrothers is adventuresome in his approach and complements the trumpeter well. Genus and Hart provide a variety of colors to match Douglas' limitless palette.