Bill Mays Biography

Willliam Allen Mays(February 5, 1944) is a jazz pianist from Northern California who is normally referred to as "Bill Mays." He came from a musical family and at sixteen he became interested in jazz at an Earl Hines concert.

In the 1960s he worked in Los Angeles accompanying Sarah Vaughan and Al Jarreau. Then in 1984 he moved to New York City and has since worked with Art Pepper, Red Mitchell, etc. He has been most known as a side-man or accompaniment, but starting in the 1990s he began to do more work as a leader of a band and composer.