PRESS RELEASES
Billy Childs | GRAMMY® Winner
Pianist Billy Childs Wins GRAMMY® for
Best Jazz Instrumental Album for The Winds of Change
The Award Marks Childs’ Sixth GRAMMY® Award and
17th GRAMMY® Nomination
Stream Tracks from The Winds of Change
“Billy Childs embraces a thrilling, deeply sophisticated post-bop sound that evokes his work from the early ’70s and ’80s with artists like Freddie Hubbard and J.J. Johnson.” — AllMusic
Photo Credit: 2024 GRAMMY® Awards
Billy Childs draws upon all of his considerable talents as pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader on his GRAMMY® Award-Winning Mack Avenue album, The Winds of Change, featuring trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade, was Childs’ sixth GRAMMY® win.
Much of the music, including the title track, was inspired by film noir; great film composers like Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann and John Williams; and nostalgia for the Los Angeles of Childs’ youth.
Childs describes the experience of making The Winds of Change as a peak artistic experience. “When you do things that are intuitive, that aren’t encumbered by too much thought but just what feels right, then you’re getting in tune with something that’s larger than just four guys playing music. That’s what we were going for.”
Childs’ next recording, Labyrinth, is a commissioned work for big band, rhythm section and orchestra as a feature for trumpeter Terell Stafford and saxophonist Dick Oatts. The album, including the Temple University Studio Orchestra, will be released on April 26 via BCM+D Records and will also include commissioned compositions by Bill Cunliffe (Rainforests) and Banks Sapnar (Red Banks).
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About Billy Childs:
Billy Childs is one of the most critically acclaimed pianists in contemporary jazz and among America’s most awarded and commissioned modern classical composers. He writes music for small and large jazz groups, chamber ensembles, choral groups and symphony orchestras. His albums have earned him 17 GRAMMY® nominations and six GRAMMY® Awards, including, most recently, in 2018 for his album Rebirth, which was named Best Jazz Instrumental Album. His 2014 GRAMMY® award-winning album Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro paid tribute to one of his earliest and most profound inspirations.
Among the distinguished artists Childs has recorded and performed with are Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Leonard Slatkin, Dianne Reeves, the Ying Quartet, Joshua Bell, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, and Chris Botti. His commissions include works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Kronos Quartet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Los Angeles Master Chorale, The American Brass Quintet, and The Dorian Wind Quintet.
Over the years, his awards include the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (2013), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2009), and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award (2015).
Photo credit: Raj Naik
Billy Childs • The Winds of Change
Mack Avenue Records • Release Date: March 17, 2023
For more information on Billy Childs, please visit:
billychilds.com| Facebook | Twitter
For more information, please contact:
Matthew Jurasek · Mack Avenue Music Group
matthew@mackavenue.com · 908-463-0146
For press materials on Billy Childs, Mack Avenue Music Group’s artists or its family
of imprints (including album covers, promotional photos and logos), please visit media.mackavenue.com
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