{"id":391,"date":"2011-04-12T11:14:14","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T15:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2011\/04\/vionlinist_billy_bang_on_being\/"},"modified":"2019-09-13T12:00:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T16:00:49","slug":"vionlinist_billy_bang_on_being","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/04\/vionlinist_billy_bang_on_being.html","title":{"rendered":"Vionlinist Billy Bang on being a “tunnel rat” in Viet Nam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>, Vietnam: Reflections<\/a> and Vietnam: The Aftermath<\/a> 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<\/a> with Billy and click “listen.”\u00c2\u00a0\"billy<\/a><\/p>\n

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I was pleased to get to know Billy when writing liner notes for\u00c2\u00a0Aftermath<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Prayer<\/i>, as well as\u00c2\u00a0Outline #12<\/i><\/a>, 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.<\/div>\n
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Photo credit sought — courtesy of artist<\/p><\/div>\n

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