William Galison Explained

William Alexander Galison (born February 19, 1958) is an American harmonica player.[1]

Early life

Galison was born and raised in New York City.[1] As a child, he started to study piano, but at the age of eight he decided to switch to guitar, having been inspired by the Beatles.[1] He developed a love of jazz in high school and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston.[1] He decided to change to the harmonica because "I was one of a million guitarists at Berklee"[1] and it was easy to carry around.[2] He was Berklee's only harmonica player.[1] He toured extensively in Europe with Billy Leadbelly (Bill Gough from Hatfield UK).[1] Among his role models at the time were Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder.[1]

After Berklee, he studied at Wesleyan University, then returned to New York City in 1982.[1]

He performed at various New York venues, including The Village Gate, The Blue Note and the Lone Star Cafe with jazz musicians Jaco Pastorius and Jaki Byard.[1] He also played with his own group at Preacher's Cafe in Greenwich Village.[1]

Collaborations and recordings

Galison has worked with Carly Simon, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Chaka Khan, Steve Tyrell, and Astrud Gilberto.[1] He performed Gordon Jacob's "Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra" and toured the US in the Broadway musical Big River.[1] He has recorded soundtracks for films, including Academy Award nominees The Untouchables and Bagdad Café.[1] His harmonica is also heard on the Sesame Street theme ("a great honor") and commercials.[1] Other television work includes Oz and Saturday Night Live.[3]

One of his major influences and role models, Toots Thielemans, once described him as "the most original and individual of the new generation of harmonica players".[1]

Got You On My Mind and Madeleine Peyroux

In 2002, Galison met jazz singer and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux in a bar in Greenwich Village.[4] They started to play music together and eventually moved in together.[4]

By the end of the year Peyroux had moved out and the couple had broken up, but they continued playing together and recorded a seven-song CD called Got You on My Mind in February 2003.[4] Peyroux's contract with Rounder Records prohibited her from selling the Got You on My Mind recording, and she stopped performing with Galison.[4] Galison continued to sell the recording and claimed that he was owed payment for canceled performances.[4] After threatened legal action from Peyroux's lawyer, Galison sued Peyroux, the lawyer, and Rounder.[4] [5] [6]

Discography

As leader or co-leader

As sideman

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Canter . Andrea . April 21, 2005 . William Galison & Madeleine Peyroux: 'Got You On My Mind' . Jazz Police . https://web.archive.org/web/20110709212746/http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/5027/2/ . July 9, 2011.
  2. Web site: Hansen . Liane . William Galison's Harmonica Jazz . NPR . April 30, 2022 . en . January 18, 2004.
  3. Web site: William Galison . Phil Brodie Band Tributes . https://web.archive.org/web/20040517093854/http://philbrodieband.com/muso_william_galison.htm . May 17, 2004 . usurped.
  4. News: The Sound and the Fury . . December 2005 . December 1, 2012 . Skinner, David.
  5. News: Former boyfriend sues jazz singer . April 26, 2022 . UPI . en.
  6. News: Brown . Jonathan . Former boyfriend sues the disappearing jazz singer, claiming he discovered her. April 26, 2022 . The Independent . August 23, 2005 . en.

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