{{Short description|American jazz multi-instrumentalist (born 1946)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Bill Easley | birth_date = {{birth date and age|January 13, 1946}} | birth_place = Olean, New York, U.S. | genre = Jazz | instruments = Flute, saxophone, clarinet }}
'''Bill Easley''' (born January 13, 1946)<ref>{{Cite web |title=WBSS Media-Bill Easley |url=https://wbssmedia.com/artists/detail/3450 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=wbssmedia.com}}</ref> is an American jazz musician who plays saxophone, flute, and clarinet.
== Early life and education == Easley was born and raised in Olean, New York.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Feather |first1=Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B4EjDgAAQBAJ&dq=Bill+Easley+Isaac+Hayes&pg=PA200 |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz |last2=Gitler |first2=Ira |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-532000-8 |language=en}}</ref> He began playing music at the age of 13 and studied at Memphis State University during the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill Easley musician - All About Jazz |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/bill-easley |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=All About Jazz Musicians |date=29 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
== Career == Easley worked with George Benson in the late 1960s and with Isaac Hayes in the 1970s. He also did sessions at Stax and Hi Records (with Ann Peebles and Al Green). He moved back to New York in 1980.
He has worked with Roland Hanna, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, James Williams, Bill Mobley, George Caldwell, Mulgrew Miller, Grady Tate, Victor Gaskin, Panama Francis, Mercer Ellington, and Billy Higgins.<ref name="Wynn">{{cite web|last1=Wynn|first1=Ron|title=Bill Easley {{!}} Biography & History|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-easley-mn0000092754/biography|website=AllMusic|accessdate=3 January 2017}}</ref>
==Discography== * ''Wind Inventions'' (Sunnyside, 1986) * ''First Call'' (Milestone, 1990) * ''Easley Said'' (Evidence, 1997) * ''Business Man's Bounce'' (18th & Vine, 2007) * ''Hearing Voices'' (18th and Vine, 2008) * ''Love Stories '' (American Showplace, 2010)
===As sideman=== '''With Mercer Ellington''' * ''Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies'' (RCA, 1981) * ''Music is My Mistress'' (Music Masters, 1988) '''With Jimmy McGriff''' * ''City Lights'' (JAM, 1981) *''Movin' Upside the Blues'' (JAM, 1982) * ''Skywalk'' (Milestone, 1984) * ''Blue to the 'Bone'' (Milestone, 1988) * ''You Ought to Think About Me'' (Headfirst, 1990) *''McGriff's House Party'' (Milestone, 2000) * ''Feelin' It'' (Milestone, 2000) *''McGriff Avenue'' (Milestone, 2002) '''With Warren Vaché''' *''Talk to Me Baby'' (Muse, 1996) '''With James Williams''' * ''Flying Colors'' (Zim, 1977) * ''Alter Ego'' (Sunnyside, 1984) * ''Progress Report'' (Sunnyside, 1985) * ''Memphis Convention'' (DIW, 1992)
'''With others''' * Jimmy Witherspoon, ''Sings the Blues'' (Black & Blue, 1980) * Benny Carter, ''Central City Sketches'' (MusicMasters, 1987) * Bobby Watson, ''The Year of the Rabbit'' (New Note, 1987) * Charles Earland, ''Front Burner'' (Milestone, 1988) * Ed Thigpen, ''BWay'' (Alpha Jazz, 1989) * Grady Tate, ''Dream Love'' (All Art, 1989) * Joey DeFrancesco, ''Where Were You?'' (Columbia, 1990) * Etta Jones, ''Christmas with Etta Jones'' (Muse, 1990) * Randy Johnston, ''Walk On'' (Muse, 1992) * Grady Tate, ''TNT Grady Tate Sings'' (Milestone, 1991) * Dakota Staton, ''Darling Please Save Your Love for Me'' (Muse, 1991) * Jimmy Heath, ''Little Man Big Band'', (Verve, 1992) * Harold Mabern ''The Leading Man'' (DIW, 1993) * Chris Connor, ''I Walk With Music'' (HighNote, 2002) * Mark Murphy, ''Memories of You: Remembering Joe Williams'' (HighNote, 2003)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.billeasley.net Official site]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Easley, Bill}} Category:African-American jazz musicians Category:African-American saxophonists Category:American session musicians Category:American male saxophonists Category:Living people Category:University of Memphis alumni Category:1946 births Category:21st-century American saxophonists Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:American male jazz musicians Category:Sunnyside Records artists Category:21st-century African-American musicians Category:20th-century African-American musicians Category:People from Olean, New York Category:People from Cattaraugus County, New York Category:21st-century American flautists Category:American male flautists {{US-saxophonist-stub}} {{Flautist-stub}}