Billy Childs


William Edward Childs is a jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California.

Early life

When he was sixteen, he attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored by the University of Southern California. He studied music theory with Marienne Uszler and piano with John Weisenfluh. From 1975–'79 he attended the University of Southern California and received a degree in composition under the tutelage of Robert Linn.
His sister is the playwright Kirsten Childs.
Childs was playing professionally as a teenager, and he made his recording debut in 1977 with the J. J. Johnson Quintet during a tour of Japan that is documented as the Yokohama Concert. He gained significant attention during his six-years playing with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's group. While influenced early on in his playing by Herbie Hancock, Keith Emerson, and Chick Corea and in his composing by Paul Hindemith, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky, Childs nevertheless had an original conception of his own from near the start, developing his own voice as both a pianist and a composer in jazz and classical music genres.

Solo albums

Childs's solo jazz recording career began in 1988, when he released Take for Example, This..., the first of four critically acclaimed albums on Windham Hill Jazz. He followed that album with Twilight Is Upon Us, His April Touch, and Portrait of a Player. Chick Corea asked Childs to join his label, Stretch Records. Childs's next album, I've Known Rivers appeared on Stretch/GRP in 1995. This was followed by The Child Within on Shanachie Records in 1996.

Arranging

In 2000 Childs arranged, orchestrated and conducted for Dianne Reeves's project The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan, which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Other artists and producers for whom Childs has arranged include Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti, Gladys Knight, Michael Bublé, David Foster, Phil Ramone, and Claudia Acuña.

Jazz chamber ensemble

In 2001 Childs formed a chamber jazz group consisting of piano, bass, drums, acoustic guitar, harp, and woodwinds. Sometimes the core group is augmented by string quartet, woodwind quintet, or both. Childs was influenced by Laura Nyro's collaborations with Alice Coltrane and by a desire to merge classical and jazz music. In 2005, the ensemble released its first album, Lyric, Jazz-Chamber Music, Vol. 1, which was nominated for three 2006 Grammy awards: Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Arrangement, winning for best instrumental composition, "Into the Light".

Awards and honors

Source:
YearAlbumLabelChart
1988Take for Example This...Windham Hill
1989Twilight Is Upon UsWindham HillTop Jazz Albums 11
1991His April TouchWindham Hill
1993Portrait of a PlayerWindham HillTop Jazz Albums 12
1995I've Known RiversStretch
1996Child WithinShanachie
1999Skim CoatMetropolitan
2000Bedtime Stories32 Jazz
2005LyricLunacy Music
2014Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura NyroSony MasterworksTop Jazz Albums 1, The Billboard 200 104
2017RebirthMack AvenueGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album

With Bunky Green
With J. J. Johnson and Nat Adderley