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Buck Hill (musician)

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Buck Hill
Birth nameRoger Wendell Hill
Born(1927-02-13)February 13, 1927
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedMarch 20, 2017(2017-03-20) (aged 90)
Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Saxophone, clarinet

Roger Wendell "Buck" Hill (February 13, 1927 – March 20, 2017) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist.[1]

Hill began playing professionally in 1943 but held a day job as a mailman in his birthplace of Washington, D.C. for over forty years. He recorded with Charlie Byrd in 1958-59. Hill released his first record as a leader, This Is Buck Hill, in 1978. During the 1970s, he also recorded two albums with the Washington-area trumpeter Allan Houser.[2] Hill's albums for SteepleChase and Muse included appearances by Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, Barry Harris, Ray Drummond, Kenny Washington, and Johnny Coles, among others. He released his last album in 2006.

Personal Life

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Hill attended Armstrong High School in Washington D.C., where he played in a band with fellow saxophone player Charlie Rouse. He served in the U.S. Army in the mid-1940s, playing in Army bands.[3] In 1949, he married Helen Weaver, with whom he raised three children.[4]

Hill began working for the U.S. Postal Service in the 1950 to support his family. Though he left his job at the post office in 1955, he returned in 1960 and continued to work there until his retirement in 1998.[5][6][4] On August 27, 2019, two years after Hill's death, a mural featuring Hill playing a saxophone in his mail carrier's uniform was unveiled. The mural, at just over 70 feet, was reportedly the tallest portrait mural in the nation's capital. It was painted by Tucson, AZ artist Joe Pagac and was sponsored by the District of Columbia Department of Public Works' MuralsDC project. At the unveiling ceremony, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared “Roger Wendell Buck Hill Day” in the city.[7] It was not Hill's first time being honored by the city; in 1982, then-mayor Marion Barry declared October 9 to be "Buck Hill Day".[5]

Hill died March 20, 2017 at his home in Greenbelt, Maryland, at the age of 90.[4]

Discography

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As leader

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As sideman

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With Charlie Byrd

With Shirley Horn

With Shirley Scott

References

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  1. ^ Gopal, Sriram (March 20, 2017). "Local Jazz Legend Buck Hill Dies At 90". DCist. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017.
  2. ^ Kernfeld, Barry, ed. (1988). "Hill, Buck (Roger)". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312113575.
  3. ^ Harrington, Richard (April 8, 1989). "Buck Stopped Here". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Schudel, Matt (March 24, 2017). "Buck Hill, saxophonist and D.C. 'local legend,' dies at 90". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Melton, Robert (October 12, 1982). "The Mailman with Sax Appeal". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  6. ^ "Roger Buck Hill". The Kennedy Center. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Lefrak, Michelle. "There's A New Tallest Mural In Town, Honoring Local Jazz Legend Buck Hill". DCist. WAMU. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
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