William Robert Dixon was an American composer and educator.
15 Facts About Bill Dixon
2.
Bill Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music.
3.
Bill Dixon's was a prominent activist for artist's rights and African American music tradition.
4.
Bill Dixon played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverb.
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Bill Dixon's family moved to Harlem, in New York City, in 1934.
6.
Bill Dixon enlisted in the Army in 1944; his unit served in Germany before he was discharged in 1946.
7.
Bill Dixon studied painting at Boston University and the WPA Arts School and the Art Students League.
8.
In 1964, Bill Dixon organized and produced the October Revolution in Jazz, four days of music and discussions at the Cellar Cafe in Manhattan.
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Bill Dixon later co-founded the Jazz Composers Guild, a cooperative organization that sought to create bargaining power with club owners and effect greater media visibility.
10.
Bill Dixon was Professor of Music at Bennington College, Vermont, from 1968 to 1995, where he founded and chaired the college's Black Music Division.
11.
Bill Dixon was one of four featured musicians in the Canadian documentary Imagine the Sound, 1981.
12.
Bill Dixon was noted for his extensive use of the pedal register, playing below the trumpet's commonly ascribed range and well into the trombone and tuba registers.
13.
Bill Dixon made extensive use of half-valve techniques and used breath with or without engaging the traditional trumpet embouchure.
14.
Bill Dixon largely eschewed mutes, the exception being the Harmon mute, with or without stem.
15.
On June 16,2010, Bill Dixon died in his sleep at his home in North Bennington, Vermont after suffering from an undisclosed illness.