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Bill Summers (musician)

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Bill Summers
Background information
Born (1948-06-27) June 27, 1948 (age 76)
Michigan, U.S.
GenresLatin jazz, jazz fusion
OccupationMusician
InstrumentConga
Years active1970–present
LabelsPrestige, MCA

Bill Summers (born June 27, 1948) is an American, New Orleans–based Afro-Cuban jazz/Latin jazz percussionist, a multi-instrumentalist who plays primarily on conga drums.

Career

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In the 1970s, he founded Bill Summers & Summers Heat together with Bo Freeman, Calvin Tillery, Carla Vaughn, Claytoven Richardson, Earl Freeman, Freddie Washington, George Spencer, Hadley Caliman, James Levi, Jeff Lewis, Larry Batiste, Leo Miller, Lori Ham, Michael Sasaki, Munyungo Jackson, Paul Van Wageningen, Ray Obiedo, Rodney Franklin, Scott Roberts and Tom Poole. The group produced 7 albums between 1977 and 1983 :

  • Cayenne
  • Straight to the bank
  • On Sunshine
  • Jam the box
  • Call it what you want
  • Seventeen
  • London Style

During the 1990s, Summers played with Los Hombres Calientes along with co-leader of the group, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and Jason Marsalis.[1] However, Summers has a much longer musical career, often working behind the scenes on film scores for various movies such as The Color Purple and the television miniseries Roots with Quincy Jones.[1] He also played with Herbie Hancock during The Headhunters years, and is mentioned in passing by the liner notes of The Headhunters' 2003 release Evolution Revolution as contributing to that recording.[2] His former wife is Yvette Bostic-Summers, who often sings on Los Hombres' albums.[2]

Discography

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Bill Summers in 2008.

As leader

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  • Feel the Heat (Prestige, 1977)
  • Cayenne (Prestige, 1977)
  • Straight to the Bank (Prestige, 1978)
  • On Sunshine (Prestige, 1979)
  • Call it What You Want (MCA, 1981) U.S. No. 129
  • Jam the Box (MCA, 1981) U.S. No. 92
  • Seventeen (MCA, 1982)
  • London Style (MCA, 1983)
  • Iroko (Vital, 1992)
  • The Essence of Kwanzaa (Monkey Hill, 1997)
  • Studies in Bata: Sacred Drum of the Yoruba, Havana to Matanzas (Bilsum, 2002)

With Los Hombres Calientes

  • Los Hombres Calientes (Basin Street, 1998)
  • Vol. 2 (Basin Street, 2000)
  • Vol. 3 New Congo Square (Basin Street, 2001)
  • Vol. 4: Vodou Dance (Basin Street, 2003)

As sideman

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With Terry Garthwaite

  • Terry (Arista Records, 1975)

With Johnny Hammond

  • Forever Taurus (Milestone, 1976)
  • Storm Warning (Milestone, 1977)
  • Don't Let the System Get You (Milestone, 1978)

With Herbie Hancock

With The Headhunters

  • Survival of the Fittest (Arista, 1975)
  • Straight from the Gate (Arista, 1977)
  • Return of the Headhunters (Verve Forecast, 1998)
  • Evolution Revolution (Basin Street, 2003)
  • On Top: Live in Europe (BHM, 2008)
  • Platinum (Owl Studios, 2011)

With Eddie Henderson

With Quincy Jones

  • Roots (A&M, 1977)
  • The Color Purple (Qwest, 1986)
  • Back On the Block (Qwest, 1989)

With David "Fathead" Newman

With Sonny Rollins

  • The Way I Feel (Milestone, 1976)
  • Easy Living (Milestone, 1978)
  • Don't Ask (Milestone, 1979)
  • Love at First Sight (Milestone, 1980)
  • Silver City (Milestone, 1996)

With Patrice Rushen

With Vinx

  • Rooms in My Fatha's House (PANGAEA, 1991)
  • I Love My Job (PANGAEA, 1992)
  • The Storyteller (PANGAEA, 1993)
  • Lips' Stretched Out (H.O.E. Heroes of Expression, 1996)
  • The Mood I'm In (Peermusic, 2002)

With others

Singles

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Year Title Chart Positions[3]
U.S. Black Singles U.S. Disco Singles
1977 "Come into My Life" No. 84 -
1979 "Straight to the Bank" No. 45 No. 34
1981 "Call It What You Want" No. 16 No. 21
1982 "At the Concert" No. 38 -
1983 "It's Over" No. 63 -

References

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  1. ^ a b Witmer, Sharon. "Bill Summers". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b Henderson, Alex. "The Headhunters". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. ^ Billboard Singles. AllMusic
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