I want to acknowledge the passing of longtime associate faculty member Bill Allison in December. Bill taught for CR from August 2009 through June 2020. Bill also directed the CR Jazz Orchestra for a time.

I believe that Bill was one of this county's finest and most loved musicians. I enjoyed watching him perform. If you had the pleasure of hearing him sing, he had a style that was reminiscent of the jazz greats.

I want to share some of the comments included in the January 10 Times Standard article "Remembering Bill Allison".

My pal, Bill … With the passing of Bill Allison a massive hole is left in the fabric of local jazz, music education and community music. Arguably the finest jazz vocalist performing locally, Bill was a consummate student of singers such as Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure and the groundbreaking trio of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Alongside his talents as a scat singer, Bill was particularly adept at the style of singing known as vocalese and had put lyrics to numerous jazz melodies and jazz improvisations. (Gregg Moore (musician))

For the longest time, I had always wanted to learn how to play tenor saxophone for jazz. I noticed that jazz orchestra was being taught at College of the Redwoods. I already knew some things about tenor saxophone, but felt I wanted to take it a step further by specifically learning how to play tenor saxophone for jazz. I entered the class...Although it was clear that I was not as experienced and skilled as practically everyone in the class for their given instruments, Bill took me under his wing (regardless) and let me practice and play with the College of the Redwoods Jazz Orchestra. And I remained with the band for multiple years. (Ruben W. Botello (musician))

He was a wonderful and caring human being and I will always remember my conversations with him about his scholarship and the early pioneers of jazz music.

Here's the link to the January 10 Times Standard article: https://www.times-standard.com/2022/02/10/remembering-bill-allison/