Bill Beason Explained

William Beason (March 6, 1908  - August 15, 1988) was an American swing jazz drummer. At the height of his career, he recorded with Django Reinhardt.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

Beason was born March 6, 1908, in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Central High School there, along with classmates and future jazz musicians Helen Humes, Jonah Jones and Dicky Wells,^[3] and then Wilberforce University in Ohio, playing drums for Horace Henderson's Collegians while there.^[4]

In 1939, Beason took over the role of drummer in Ella Fitzgerald's orchestra from Chick Webb.^[5]

Beason died, aged 80, in New York City.^[6]

Discography (in selection)

With Dickie Wells and his Orchestra (Richard Fullbright, Bill Beason, Django Reinhardt, Bill Coleman)

• 1937: Dinah ! / Nobody's Blues But My Own (Swing)
• 1937: Japanese Sandman / I Got Rhythm (Swing)
• 1937: I've Found A New Baby / Hot Club Blues (Swing)
• 1937: Bugle Call Rag / Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Swing)
• 1937: Sweet Sue / Hangin' Around Boudon (Swing)
• 1940: Hangin' Around Boudon / I've Found A New Baby (Victor)

With Ella Fitzgerald and her Orchestra

• 1974: Live From The Roseland Ballroom, New York 1940 (Sunbeam)
• 1987: Jazz Live & Rare (Delta)

See also

• List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area

External links

• Bill Beason (instrumentalist : drums) at University of California Library Discography

Notes and References

1. Book: Jean 'Django' Reinhardt: A Contextual Bio-Discography 1910-1953. 5 July 2017. Taylor & Francis. 978-1-351-56173-0. 90.
2. Book: The New Yorker. August 2000. New Yorker Magazine, Incorporated. 100.
3. Web site: Beason, William E. "Bill" . Notable Kentucky African American (NKAA) Database . University of Kentucky Libraries . August 26, 2024.
4. Book: Farrington, Joshua D. . Gerald L. . Smith . Karen Cotton . McDaniel . John A. . Hardin . 2015 . The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia . Beason, William "Bill" . 38 . . . 978-0-8131-6065-8 . 913829084 .
5. Book: Nick Talevski. The Encyclopedia of Rock Obituaries. registration. 1999. Omnibus. 978-0-7119-7548-4. 125.
6. Web site: Bill Beason . Eugene . Chadbourne . Biography . . 2019-02-26.