Person · Male

Bill Perkins

jazz saxophonist

From
San Francisco, United States
Active
1924–2003
Releases
20
  • jazz
  • cool jazz
  • hard bop

About

William Reese Perkins ((1924-07-22)July 22, 1924 – (2003-08-09)August 9, 2003) was an American cool jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist, popular on the West Coast jazz scene, known primarily as a tenor saxophonist.

Read more

Born in San Francisco, California, United States, Perkins started performing in the big bands of Woody Herman and Jerry Wald. He worked for the Stan Kenton orchestra, which led to his entry into the cool jazz idiom. He began performing with Art Pepper and Bud Shank. He was also a member of The Tonight Show Band from 1970 to 1992 and The Lighthouse All-Stars. In the 1960s, Perkins had a second career as a recording engineer.
He died of cancer in his Sherman Oaks home at the age of 79.

From Bill Perkins (saxophonist) on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Member of

Discography

Albums 16
Live 2
Compilations 2

Links

Also known as

William Perkins

Tags

  • saxophonist

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000055135536

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 8 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.