Bill Cunliffe

by Scott YanowOne of the more promising pianists based in the L.A. area, Bill Cunliffe has been careful to have each of his recordings display its own personality. He won the 1989 Thelonious Monk jazz piano award, for a time led the fusion band Porcupine, works with Natalie Cole and in the studios, and is a regular member of both the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Clayton Brothers Quartet. Cunliffe's recordings for Discovery have included A Paul Simon Songbook (on which he turned a dozen of Simon's pop tunes into jazz), A Rare Connection (a post-bop set filled with new originals), and Bill in Brazil (a bossa nova and Latin jazz program).