Jazz
Saxophonist Bill Pierce is one of America's most talented jazz artists and educators.
Pierce began performing in the early 70's in Boston while a student Berklee College of Music, appearing with artists such as Marvin Gaye, and toured with Stevie Wonder's band.
In 1980, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, serving as musical director and sharing the bandstand with other young talents including Bobby Watson, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, and Donald Harrison. He regularly performed with the Freddie Hubbard Quintet, and in 1985 he joined the Tony Williams Quintet.
Since 1986 he has continued to teach, perform, and record under his own name. Each area of his professional life has continued to thrive, highlighted by his appointment as Chairman of the Woodwind Department at Berklee College in 1997 and membership to the Kevin Eubanks quartet since 1999.
Pierce is consistently featured at major national and international jazz festivals and venues.
"Playing with Art Blakey's and Tony Williams's bands, I really felt a part of a jazz lineage. And I was able to play with them long enough to be part of a living, growing organism. Over a period of time playing with the same people, the music morphs into something more than the composer may have intended. It develops into more than the sum of its parts."
“I really like seeing music being carried on. I really like seeing young people develop, achieve their dreams, and be a part of the history. Many of my students have made a name for themselves: Antonio Hart, Mark Gross, Javon Jackson, Walter Smith, Mark Turner, Miguel Zenon. But a lot of the former students who I consider to be really successful are just good people, good citizens. That's an important part of teaching."
