[Deathwatch] Bill Berry, jazz musician, 72

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Mon Nov 18, 6:53 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Jazz legend Bill Berry, a Big Band leader and trumpeter
who performed with Duke Ellington and Woody Herman and on Merv
Griffin's television show, died of lung cancer Nov. 13. He was 72.

Berry performed in the Big Bands of Herman and Maynard Ferguson before
joining Ellington's band for a three-year stint in 1961.

Ellington had a profound influence on Berry, who went on to play and
teach his music in a career that spanned more than 50 years. Berry also
was musical director for several years of the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Born William Richard "Bill" Berry in Benton Harbor, Mich., he spent his
early years traveling with his parents who were on the road in bands.
By age 5, he could play the piano.

He later turned to the trumpet and traveled through the Midwest before
serving four years in the U.S. Air Force.

Berry studied at the Cincinnati College of Music and attended Berklee
College of Music in Boston.

He later played with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis orchestra and led his own
New York Big Band. He joined Merv Griffin's television show in 1965 and
was featured on the show for the next 15 years.

In 1999, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Berklee.