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Jazz Beyond Jazz

Howard Mandel's Urban Improvisation

Vionlinist Billy Bang on being a “tunnel rat” in Viet Nam

April 12, 2011 by Howard Mandel

Violinist Billy Bang, died at age 63 on April 11 of cancer, was a composer of enduring, affecting music based on his military service in Viet Nam. Prayer for Peace, Vietnam: Reflections and Vietnam: The Aftermath deal directly, bravely and beautifully with Bang’s thoughts and feelings about having been a tunnel rat — a small soldier dropped into darkness to sniff out what, or who, was a danger underground. Go to my NPR interview with Billy and click “listen.” billy bang aftermath.jpeg 

I was pleased to get to know Billy when writing liner notes for Aftermath and Prayer, as well as Outline #12, an early experiment with conduction by Billy’s friend and fellow Viet vet Butch Morris. When Billy was a kid, he’d tap-danced for spare change on New York City’s subways, and that’s how an image I savor of him: light on his toes, deft working a crowd.

Thumbnail image for billy bang on toes.jpeg

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: "Outline #12", "Prayer for Peace", Aftermath, Billy Bang, Butch Morris, conduction, tunnel rat, Viet Nam, Vietnam

Comments

  1. David says

    April 12, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    This is very sad. I got to talk to him one time, at the Guelph Jazz festival in 2006, and it’s a big memory for me. His music is strange and beautiful.

Howard Mandel

I'm a Chicago-born (and after 32 years in NYC, recently repatriated) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, consultant and nascent videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, consulting on media, publishing and jazz-related issues. I'm president of the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit membership organization devoted to using all media to disseminate news and views about all kinds of jazz.
My books are Future Jazz (Oxford U Press, 1999) and Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (Routledge, 2008). I was general editor of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (Flame Tree 2005/Billboard Books 2006). Of course I'm working on something new. . . Read More…

About Jazz Beyond Jazz

What if there's more to jazz than you suppose? What if jazz demolishes suppositions and breaks all bounds? What if jazz - and the jazz beyond, behind, under and around jazz - could enrich your life? What if jazz is the subtle, insightful, stylish, … [Read More...]

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