Bill Harris

Among modern trombonists working between 1945 and 1960, Bill Harris remained one of the few untouched by J.J. Johnson’s approach. Displaying a sharply individual voice and a robust, highly personal sense of humor from his earliest recordings, he entered the profession in 1938 and traveled with the orchestras of Gene Krupa, Ray McKinley, and Bob Chester. Following stints alongside Benny Goodman from 1943 to 1944 and with Charlie Barnet, plus appearances at a pair of Eddie Condon’s Town Hall concerts, Harris achieved wide recognition through his tenure in Woody Herman’s First Herd from 1944 to 1946; “Bijou” served as a featured vehicle, while his strongest statements appeared on the band’s brisk and frequently boisterous numbers. One of the handful of First Herd musicians who also appeared in the Four Brothers edition of the Second Herd between 1948 and 1950, he returned to Herman’s ranks on several occasions from 1956 to 1959. In 1947 he shared leadership of a group with Charlie Ventura, joined forces with Chubby Jackson in 1953, and earned prominence as a regular soloist with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1950 through 1954. Throughout the latter half of the 1950s he worked frequently with Flip Phillips, and the pair’s ensemble supplied the core personnel for Benny Goodman’s 1959 orchestra. After a period in Las Vegas, Harris largely withdrew to Florida during the 1960s, leading occasional ensembles of his own and performing with Red Norvo. Between 1945 and 1957 he recorded under his own name for Mercury, EmArcy, Dial, Capitol, Verve, Fantasy, and Mode, drawing most often on fellow alumni from the Woody Herman bands.