Billy Wallace

Billy Wallace (pianist) was born in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Milwaukee on August 20, 1929. He attended Boys Technical High School (now Bradley Tech), where he was one of the only African American students. He initially played the saxophone but shifted focus to the piano, learning to play boogie-woogie which led to a gig with a local band at a social center for the remainder of his high school years.

He worked around town with a trio, becoming an outstanding jazz pianist by the time he left Milwaukee to tour with Illinois Jacquet. He settled in Chicago in 1951, performing with some of the most well-known musicians of the time, including Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, B.B. King, and Gladys Knight, and became a mentor to a young, up-and-coming Herbie Hancock. In 1957, he recorded with drummer Max Roach on the album Jazz in 3/4 Time, which featured the phenomenal lineup of Sonny Rollins, Kenny Dorham, and George Morrow.

In the early 1970s, Billy moved to Denver, Colorado, where he became well known, performing in many of the city’s top hotels and nightclubs. He returned to Milwaukee in 1979 for a performance at the Pabst Theater and recorded a trio LP of standards, Coming Home, at the Jazz Gallery.

In the early 1990s, he relocated to Seattle, where his vast knowledge of thousands of tunes helped him establish a reputation as one of the top pianists on the local jazz scene. Billy moved back to Denver in 2003 and passed away there on December 7, 2017.

Listen to Billy Wallace, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Dorham, George Morrow, and Max Roach perform “Lover” from Max Roach’s  Jazz in 3/4 Time album, recorded in Hollywood, California on March 21, 1957. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUZF9GpPMH0