Bill Connors

Bill Connors (*1949), born in Los Angeles California, started playing guitar at age 14 after falling under the spell of the rebellious rock groups of the 60s ("I was a heavy Rolling Stones glutton; that sound really captured me. So, right away I was learning all Keith Richards solos."). He soon came to jazz overnight, with a particularly strong affinity for Django Reinhardt: “He had all the fire, creativity, and energy that rock players have today”.

After his tenure with Chick Corea’s Return To Forever group (recording Hymn of The Seventh Galaxy), and appearing on Julian Priester’s Love, Love – the guitarist’s first appearance for ECM – Connors left the electric guitar fireworks behind and turned his focus to acoustic guitar playing.

Bill: "I did my first solo album in 1974, and just decided [...]

Bill: "I did my first solo album in 1974, and just decided on the spur of the moment to do it all on acoustic. That was just such a contrast from blowing people's ears off with my 200-watt Marshall that it really started to capture me”

Said solo date, 1975’s Theme To The Guardian, was also his first leader recording for the label and proved the guitarist a master of subtle lyrical qualities. (“he sounds almost as if he is paying tribute to the second of Chick Corea’s solo piano LP’s for Eicher. As such, the beauty of the LP becomes almost a tribute to the acoustic instrument rather than to the musician.” - Buffalo Evening News).

Two more albums as leader for the label followed: For 1978’s quartet outing Of Mist And Melting he was joined by saxophonist Jan Garbarek, Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. On the record, Billboard raved, “Connors plays impeccably artistic acoustic guitar in a subtle tour de force which will have other guitarists envious.” Connors continued to evolve as a classical guitarist – a progression captured on his final leader recording, 1980’s sparse and elegant Swimming With A Hole In My Body.

In between his own dates, Connors toured and recorded with Jan Garbarek, appearing on the saxophonist’s albums Places (1978) and Photo With blue Sky… (1979). Of Garbarek, Bill has said, “no matter what I wrote for Jan, he always made the melody sound better than I could anticipate…” He can also be heard on Path, the 1979 trio recording with vibraphonist Tom van der Geld and reedsman Roger Jannotta.

“Bill was very good… His left-hand vibrato, his sense of space, his liquid phrasing, the way he lingers on a note.” – Steve Tibbetts