Billy White is a pianist, keyboardist, composer, producer, electronic
musician and songwriter. Born in San Francisco, he
graduated attended UCLA's jazz studies program, where he studied under Kenny
Burrell and earned a B.A. in Ethnomusicology. He has won numerous awards
and scholarships, including the David A. Abell Jazz Piano Scholarship, the
Martin Feldman Award, the Duke Ellington Jazz Award and several CMEA Command
Performances. He has worked with Blue Note
artist Ambrose Akinmusire, Dayna Stephens, Obed Calvaire, Paula West, and
Marcus Shelby, as well as crossing over into R&B, working with Bilal
(Grammy-nominee), and Maiysha Kai (Grammy-nominee) and gospel star James Hall,
contributed to Ronnie Spector's latest album "English Heart", and worked
with
electronica artists like Teeko, Captain Planet, and Pablo Ygal (formerly of
Plug Research). He has composed for film (the festival-winning Bowling
Blind, 2011) and dance (Martha Graham School of Dance, Long Island
University). He has also worked in musical theater, co-writing the musical
"Finding Harlem" with Rent's Ano Okera. In 2010, he released "First Things
First", an album of original jazz, which garnered positive reviews in
the press, including both Down Beat Magazine and his native San Francisco Chronicle.
