Bill Finegan, 1917-2008

I was a student of Bill and his wife in the 1980's at BU. I was enrolled in the music dept and took private lessons with his wife. They were so gracious to me. In hindsight, I had little musical talent but they supported a dream. I will never forget their spirit and, although, I have not been in contact with that part of my past, there are some cherished memories. I hope (more than just hope) that someone gets in contact with an incredible trombone player, Rick Trager, because Bill and he were like blood notes. God Bless this family,

With sincere regards,
Jill Warner (formerly Picataggio)

An Appreciation of Bill Finegan has just been posted at my Blog.

http://sloaneview.blogspot.com

Bill Finegan was my favorite arranger and role model of all time! He influenced me more than any other arranger in the 20th Century. A truly "One of a kind" original!

Sammy Nestico

Bill Finegan RIP

One Of my favorite arrangers of all time!
"Wagon Wheels" arranged by Bill was a classic
Dorsey chart from 1944! Wow!
Talking about an innovator!

Lots of Love To All The Cats, Bill!

Here is a pioneer whose work largely has been overlooked by jazz fans, I suppose because he was not averse to seeking popularity. I think it could be said Bill Finegan was more responsible for Miller's lush romantic sound than Jerry Gray. By the time he was writing for Dorsey though in the late '40s his work was distinct and original. In 1952, the Sauter-Finegan band was so startling with innovation that many of us struggled with how to hear it. Alas, they tried too many novelty approaches. I never heard Gil Evans cite Finegan as an influence but I can't imagine he wasn't. Thad Jones and Mel Lewis took all the Finegan they could get.

Bill Finegan's work is quiet and unassuming, except at an arrangement's climax at which point heavenly choirs appear. But it is meticulous music, and quite possibly some of the most gorgeous of the last century, most of which he lived. Finding out what he arranged, with Miller and Sauter-Finegan, is arduous and involves for me guesswork. Glenn Miller sometimes sent charts done by Gray, Finegan or Billy May to each other to "clean up" or add to. Other times Miller himself tinkered with them. It's said Finegan used to write completely outrageous stuff into his Miller contributions just to tick Glenn off. With Sauter-Finegan the 2 arrangers tended to write separately, but still they sometimes melded things together. I'm not aware of anyone yet trying to sort those arrangements out.

Finegan was full of whimsy, but could swing like mad when usually a brief part of an arrangement called for it. His musicians were faithful to him all the way back to Miller and going through Dorsey. I did not know of the staggering personnel of the studio bands, which couldn't possibly have been afforded when the band took to the road---and played my hometown in Western New York when I was 13, and I didn't go. I found out only very recently that Bill Harris is the trombone soloist on many of my favorites---and that Ralph Burns remained the piano man all the way. If you've got a genius like Ralph Burns wanting to learn from you, you must know somethin'!

Doug has hyperlinked a CD in his entry. The last 3 tunes on that Best Of collection are RCA experimental stereo recordings. The set is worth buying just for them, so you can hear how intricate it all was. During Bill's final few years I used to buy CDs if they had even one Finegan arrangement. This was true of last year's Christmas album by Chanticleer. He nailed Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas in a sublime setting for the choir and an ensemble of winds. If that was his last chart, it is a fitting farewell. This holiday tear-jerker will curl you right up into a comfy little ball of deliciousness.