BILL O'CONNELL

O’Connell was born in New York City on August 22, 1953. Initially, his focus as a fledgling piano student was on the established classical repertoire. He studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, serving his initial goal of becoming a classical composer. However, discovering jazz radically changed his career path. “Jazz combined the sophistication I was looking for in music with the earthy quality and the swing,” he told Downbeat in a 2022 interview. 

His debut recording as a leader was Searching, a trio date for Inner City Records in 1978. Over the following four decades, he would record 18 other sessions as a leader. Over the years he also chalked up sideman roles with a stylistically eclectic group of major artists, from Astrud Gilberto, Sonny Rollins, and Chet Baker to John Lucien, Neanna Freelon, and Gato Barbieri.
His initiation into Latin Jazz came when he was tapped in 1977 to join Cuban conga player Mongo Santamaria’s popular group as keyboardist and music director. Working with the legendary conguero for two years afforded the young pianist the opportunity to hone the three skills he would emphasize throughout his career – composing, arranging, and playing. In 2021, he received a GRAMMY® nomination for his Latin-inspired arrangement of “Chopsticks” on Richard Baratta’s Music in Film: The Reel Deal.

With TOUCH, his seventeenth album as a leader, O’Connell returns to the trio format for the first time since his debut album Searching. Accompanied by longtime collaborators, bassist Santi Debriano and drummer Billy Hart, and recorded at the storied Rudy Van Gelder Studio, O’Connell crafts a rich and intimate musical experience that shines with his unmistakable artistry.

As author T.J. English puts it: “the master pianist gets back to basics and reminds us all that he is still at the peak of his craft and one of the most brilliant interpreters of contemporary jazz in all its glory.”