Billy Bean (musician)

Bean was born into a musical family in Philadelphia. His mother played the piano. His father was an amateur singer and guitarist, and his sister was a professional singer.[1][2] He started on guitar at the age of twelve.[1]

His father taught him some of the basics on guitar before he received lessons from Howard Herbert.[3] Then he studied for about one year with Dennis Sandole.[4] During the late 1940s and 1950s, he performed at venues in the Philadelphia area.[5] In the mid-1950s, he moved to New York City and recorded with Charlie Ventura and Red Callender, and in 1958 he moved to Los Angeles[1] to record for Decca.[6] In Los Angeles, he worked with Buddy Collette, Paul Horn, John Pisano, Bud Shank,[1][2] Milt Bernhart, Les Elgart, Herb Geller, Lorraine Geller, Calvin Jackson, and Zoot Sims.[7]

In October, 1959, Bean returned to New York City after accepting Tony Bennett's offer to join his band. He remained with Bennett's band for less than one year. Hal Gaylor, who had been Bennett's bassist, assembled a trio with Bean and pianist Walter Norris; they called themselves The Trio and recorded an album[2] for Riverside in 1961. Gaylor said the trio had great difficulty in finding work and disbanded shortly after recording.[8] Bean performed with Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, and John Lewis, recording albums with Mann and Lewis.[9] He returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, retiring in 1986.[10]