Bill Mays Trio

Jazz Group ‘Bill Mays Trio’ to Perform at UTD April 1

RICHARDSON, Texas (March 27, 2006) — Accomplished musician, arranger and composer Bill Mays will perform with his trio, including drummer Matt Wilson and bassist Martin Wind, at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Conference Center Auditorium on Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m.

As the Bill Mays Trio, the ensemble has released three compact discs in six years. Entertainment Weekly praised the group’s most recent effort, Live at the Jazz Standard, as “outstanding” and Jazz Review calls the group “a stellar trio of musicians.”

Mays began his professional career at age 17 as a bandsman in the United States Navy. Since then, he has performed with such noteworthy musicians as Harold Land, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne, Art Pepper, the Kenton Jr. Neophonic Orchestra, Danny Embrey, Alan Broadbent, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, Indian electric-violinist Dr. L Subramanian and Frank Zappa.

Jazz Times proclaimed Mays “one of the masters of touch and color among today’s pianists.” Mays worked as pianist, arranger and producer for Mark Murphy’s Grammy nominated album Bop For Kerouac. As a studio musician in Hollywood, Mays has performed on numerous movie scores including A Time to Kill, Analyze This, Being John Malkovich, Ed Wood, Fargo, Gods and Monsters, Gremlins, Interview with a Vampire, Practical Magic, Rocky, Shaft 2, Superman (with John Williams), The Big Lebowsky and Tribeca (with Robert DeNiro). He has appeared on such television shows as Good Morning America and Late Night with Jay Leno.

Both Wilson and Wind are leaders of their own ensembles. Jazz Times called Wilson, who won Downbeat Magazine’s Rising Star Drummer in 2005 for the third consecutive year, “a veritable singer on the traps; always musical, always supportive.” Currently a faculty member of New York University’s Jazz Department, Wind has performed with a variety of notable musicians and orchestras including Slide Hampton, Ken Peplowsky, Lalo Schifrin, Mstislav Rostropowitsch and Valerie Gergejiev with the German Soviet Young Philharmonie and Radio Symphony Orchestras in Cologne and Munich.

Additional information about the production can be found at http://ah.utdallas.edu/season0506/billmaystrio.htm.

Tickets for the show are $20 for general admission and free at the door to UTD students with valid identification. UTD ticket office hours are from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and at the door one hour prior to show time. To purchase tickets in advance using Visa, MasterCard or Discover, please call 972-883-2552.

For information about the many musical, arts, theatre, dance and other performances and exhibitions held throughout the year at UTD, please call 972-UTD-ARTS (972-883-2787), e-mail utdarts@utdallas.edu, or visit the School of Arts and Humanities’ website at http://ah.utdallas.edu/. Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations may call 972-883-2982, Texas Relay Operator: 1-800-RELAYVV.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls nearly 14,500 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.