The Jazz Professor

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By David Burke | Friday, May 9, 2008 5:11 PM CDT | () comments

(Contributed photo) East Moline native Bill Bell

Even down to his e-mail address, he’s known as the Jazz Professor.

East Moline native Bill Bell has not only kept a performing career alive for more than a half-century, but he’s also been a music educator — most notably 31 years at the College of Alameda in northern California, the past 20 as chairman of its music department. He’s also taught at Stanford University and the University of California.

Bell, 71, returns to the Quad-Cities this week for a Third Sunday jazz workshop and concert, presented by Polyrhythms, at the River Music Experience’s Redstone Room, as well as his 50-year class reunion at Augustana College in Rock Island.

In a recent telephone interview from his El Cerrito, Calif., home, Bell reflected on his dual-pronged career:

Q: Do you consider yourself more of a musician or an educator?

A: I think of myself as both. I’ve had kind of a dual personality as far as performing and education. ...

Q: How important is it for you to have one feeding off the other?

A: As an educator, it’s really important to be able to relate certain ideas about performance to your students. They gain a better perspective about how to perform themselves from a performer. But sometimes that gets confused because lots of performers aren’t very good teachers. I prided myself in being a very good teacher as well.

My main thing was to take students to where they were because I remember the journey there was from being a learning musician to a performing musician.

Q: So how does a kid from the Watertown section of East Moline get to where you are today?

A: It’s an amazing journey, really. (laughs) Sometimes I look back and say, “Oh God, how did that happen?” It’s an amazing journey.

The projects of Watertown, all through high school, I just had really good people along the way to help me. I didn’t get here myself, I know that. I really credit my faith, growing up in the Baptist church there in Mount Zion, and there was a teacher who was just a mentor to every student he had. I modeled myself after him. His name was Russell Smith. His whole personality and his contribution to the community was legendary. He was a Boy Scout leader, he was a playground leader, he was a Sunday school teacher. He was the principal of a little African-American school that was called Campbell School in Watertown. ...

(At United Township High School) Mr. Berghult, my band director, encouraged my talent at an early age. He suggested that I start taking piano lessons at Augustana at 15 years old. My goodness, I’m not even that age, but he said, “Yes, I think you’d benefit from that experience.” It gave me the impetus to make the transition from high school to college. I really thank him for that. By that time, I had a cousin who had gone to Augustana College and he became my assistant band director to Mr. Berghult.

My first cousin, Mallie Williams, was the first person in my family to go to college, and he also taught me the rudiments of music — basic lines and spaces — when he knew I was playing the piano by ear. ...

Q: You said you were the second in your family to go to college — was there any racial difficulty at Augustana at that time?

A: I didn’t sense any at all. In fact, there was one or two years that I was the only African-American at the college. My latter two years, I don’t think there was another African-American on campus.

That wasn’t a big deal to me because I was the only African-American in the UTHS band. Being a musician, you just get sort of used to being alone. I have some really fast friends from high school who are still my friends.

Q: What drew you to California?

A: I went to the University of Iowa for my (master of arts degree) in ‘58 and went to California while in the Iowa band. Fell in love with the weather out here because we came back to Iowa City and it was 10 below zero. ... We moved out here in ‘63.

Q: It was important for you to keep performing as well as teaching, right?

A: All the time I was teaching in Iowa, I used to play in Cedar Rapids at Joe’s Tender Trap and ran into Al Jarreau in his early life and played a great deal with him in Cedar Rapids.

Q: Looking at the names of your students who have gone on to jazz careers, one of them is Michael Woolf. (Woolf was musical director of “The Arsenio Hall Show” and is the father of Nat and Alex Woolf, known now to tween fans as “The Naked Brothers Band” on Nickelodeon.) He’s back in the spotlight again because of his children.

A: He’s got some crackerjack guys who have formed their own band. Every once in a while, I’ll run into his mother and she’ll clue me in on what Mike’s kids are going. I haven’t heard a tape or CD of the kids yet, but I’m sure they’re just as rambunctious as he was.

Q: Professionally, what do you think has been the highlight of your performing career?

A: I’d have to say that my road experience with Carmen MacRae as her pianist was one of the real highlights. I got the chance to play with incredible New York musicians that really inspired my playing and just put me in an arena I had never been in before. ...

My life has been so eclectic. I trained choruses for Duke Ellington and that was a wonderful experience working for him as well, playing with the Duke Ellington Band ... in his Sacred concert.

Q: You come back to the Quad-Cities at least once a year to play. What’s it like for you to come back to the home area and perform?

A: It’s probably one of the most rewarding experiences I can have. I play for audiences that really know me. They know me not only as a pianist and performer and a musician, they know me as a person.

That kind of support is just invaluable.

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

Who: Bill Bell, in a Third Sunday jazz workshop and concert

When: Workshop at 3 p.m. and concert at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 18

Where: Redstone Room, inside the River Music Experience, 129 Main St., Davenport

How much: $5 for adults and $3 for students to attend the workshop; $20 and $15, respectively, for the concert

Information: (563) 326-1333 or Polyrhythms.org on the Web