Bill Bell, aka “The Jazz Professor”, grew up in the small Midwestern town of East Moline, Illinois located west of Chicago on the banks of the Mississippi river.  Historic jazz greats Bix Biederbeck and Louie Belson hail from the same Quad City area.  He was born to a highly musical family in that his uncle played trumpet with the Cab Calloway band, his first cousin and clarinet/saxophonist was his high school band director, and his mother played the piano.

It was detected early on that “Lil Bill” as he was affectionately called, had the ability to play the piano by ear at the age of five.  It was then decided that formal training should begin a six years old.  Piano lessons led to accompanying both church and school youth activities.  After studying classical piano for a number of years, he began studying jazz and popular piano at the age of eleven.

 The discovery of jazz at age thirteen was monumental.  It was the beginning of a musical journey that has culminated into his present career.   Bill’s early influences were Errol Garner, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum.  He began playing the trombone during his sophomore year in high school.  However, his talent as a pianist caught the attention of his high school band director who suggested that he begin studying at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.  This quality musical experience proved to be invaluable in making the transition from high school to college training.  Bill graduated from Augustana with a bachelors degree in music education and then went on to receive the masters degree in music from the University of Iowa. 

After teaching three years as a high school band director in Traer, Iowa, Bill and family moved to the San Francisco bay area in 1963.  He taught junior high band and orchestra  for the Oakland public schools from 1963 to 1969.  At the same time he maintained a busy performance schedule working with his own trio, the Buddy Montgomery quartet, recording with Louie Bellson, and directing a chorus for Duke Ellington’s “Sacred Concert”.

Taking a leave of absence from teaching, he traveled for a year in 1968-1969 with major jazz singing artist Carmen McCrae as musical director and pianist.  After a short stint as rehearsal pianist for the Motown group “The Supremes” winter of 1970, Bill returned home and began teaching at the College of Alameda in 1970.  He was chairman of the music department the last 20 years of his tenure.  Hundreds of his students occupy prominent positions in both jazz and pop fields.  Most notable are trumpeter John Faddis, pianist Benny Green, drummer Will Kennedy, and pianist Michael Wolfe. 

In addition to teaching responsibilities at the College of Alameda, Bill concurrently directed the Stanford Univ. jazz band from 1987 to 1991.  There he raised the performance level of the Stanford jazz band and organized an outstanding jazz quartet.  

Once back in the bay area, he became one of the most sought after jazz pianist performer,  vocal accompanist, arranger, and clinician.  After recording “The Nifty Cat Strikes West”  in 1967 with a Count Basie group which included Roy Eldridge, Louie Bellson and Eric Dixon, Bill recorded his first album “Basically Bill Bell” in 1971.  This project featured many of his compositions including “The Jarvis Gann Blues” and “Mr Loco”.  1971 marked the beginning of symphonic commissioned works as well: “Right On” for the San Francisco symphony, “East Meets West” for the Oakland youth symphony.

“The Jazz Professor” by line became the title for his first CD project completed in 1995.  This project featured original compositions written for people who were major influences on his life.  Many of his most talented former students were featured on this project.  “Just Swing Baby” followed in 2001 with rhythm section Jeff Chambers bass, Brad Buethe guitar, and Eddie Marshall drums being augmented by former student and saxophonist David Ellis.  The most recent CD “The Feeling of Jazz” was released July, 2009.  This project attempts to reestablish the basic connection between jazz and the blues.

In addition to legendary jazz status, Bill Bell is a noted choral arranger and director.  He developed a love for choral music while studying with master choral teacher Henry Veld at Augustana College.  Bill is the director of the fifty voice Oakland Bay Area Community Chorus.  The mission of the chorus is to promote and preserve the African American Spiritual and all related musical forms.  The chorus performs two major concerts a year.   The chorus was founded in 2000 and has recorded two CD’s of African American Spirituals which are available on this web site.

The “Jazz Connection Trio” remains his main performance medium.  Bassist Jeff Chambers and drummer Eddie Marshall are both world renown and are major contributors to the jazz idiom.  The “Trio” performs regularly at various Bay Area venues and festivals and is the driving force behind Bill’s most recent recordings “Just Swing Baby” 2005, and “The Feeling of Jazz” 2009.