Billy Childs Quartet

Long before Billy Childs gained recognition as one of the country’s preeminent composers, he was dazzling Bay Area audiences as a sideman. After a brief stint with trombone great J.J. Johnson, the Los Angeles native began making regular treks north when trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard assembled a prodigious young band in 1978 that also featured bassist Larry Klein, who later earned renown producing albums by Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Luciana Souza, and Childs’ own 2014 jazz-chart-topping project Map of the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro.

After years of playing funk and fusion, Hubbard had returned to straight-ahead jazz sounding more fiery than ever. For Childs, then in his early 20s, performing at Keystone Korner, Kuumbwa, and Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society with Hubbard’s band was trial by blowtorch on every gig. He has been making trips north ever since, both as an accompanist for masters such as Bobby Hutcherson and Dianne Reeves and as a leader in his own right, giving audiences regular updates on his extraordinary evolution as a GRAMMY Award-winning composer, arranger, and improviser.

He has carved out an unusual career path built largely on his pen, making his living through commissions. Writing for orchestras and chamber ensembles has become his bread and butter over the past two decades, which makes every opportunity to stretch out with his band one he seizes with both hands.

https://billychilds.com/

Personnel:

• Billy Childs, piano
• Dan Chmielinski, bass
• Christian Euman, drums
• Additional personnel TBA