One of jazz's many disappointments for me was the failure by record producers in the 1950s to capture pianist Billy Triglia in a trio setting. A Bud Powell disciple, Triglia was an exceptional pianist with enormous technique and swing, and yet he spent much of his career playing sideman gigs in small clubs in the New York City area. Still, why Bethlehem, Coral, EmArcy, Prestige, Riverside and other locally based labels didn't hear in the 1950s what we hear now and coax Triglia into the studio is somewhat puzzling. [Photo above of Billy Triglia]
Then again, it could be that Triglia, like alto saxophonist Dave Schildkraut, wasn't comfortable advocating for himself. Or Triglia found that comping in groups was more his thing than leading. Or he felt the re-takes needed in studios was too much pressure. Or more than likely, he didn't want to tour albums, preferring to stick around New York.
As bassist Chuck Israels said to me about Schildkraut in 2020:
"Dave made relatively few recordings compared to his contemporaries, and by the time I got a chance to play with him, he was a shadow of his former self. From what pianist Bill Triglia told me (I didn’t know Schildkraut well), he was a shy guy who just couldn’t tolerate the competitive world. Like Gigi Gryce, he was not constitutionally built to live comfortably in it"
Bill Crow who knew Trilgia well, wrote the following in 2011:
"Billy was a good piano player, and a sweet person. His enjoyment of the music and of the musicians he liked was infectious. He would find places to play around New Jersey and in New York, usually for very little money, and I would happily go wherever it was just to be in on the fun."
So today, a 15-clip tribute to Billy Triglia, who died in 2011 at age 86.
May someone one day find a trio reel someplace on a shelf of Triglia rehearsing or leading a trio [photo above of Billy Triglia]:
Here's Bill Triglia's Original, a track from Tony Fruscella's unreleased Atlantic album recorded in March 1954, with Tony Fruscella (tp), Brew Moore (ts), Bill Triglia (p), Teddy Kotick (b) and Bill Heine (d)...
Here's the full 10-inch album of Hank D'Amico's Hank's Holiday, in October 1954, renamed Holiday With Hank on the London Records reissue, with Hank D'Amico (cl), Bill Triglia (p), Milt Hinton (b) and Charlie Smith (d)...
Here's Sam Most's full I'm Nuts About the Most...Sam That Is!, in March and April 1955, with Sam Most (fl,cl), Marty Flax (bar), Bill Triglia (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Burgher Jones (b) and Bobby Donaldson (d)...
Here's Tony Fruscella's full Tony Fruscella for Atlantic in March and April 1955, with Tony Fruscella (tp), Chauncey Welsch (tb), Allen Eager (ts), Danny Bank (bar), Bill Triglia (p), Bill Anthony (b) and Junior Bradley (d)...
Here's Tony Fruscella playing A Night in Tunisia at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey in 1955, with Tony Fruscella (tp), Phil Woods (as), Bill Triglia (p) Paul Chambers (b) and Roy Hall (d)...
Here's Night Train from the same gig...
Here's Jackie Paris singing There Will Never Be Another You in November 1955, with Jackie Paris (vcl) accompanied by Sam Marowitz and Hal McKusick (as), Frank Socolow and Eddie Wasserman (ts), Al Epstein (bar), Bill Triglia (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d) and Manny Albam (arr,cond)...
And here's Strange, from the same recording session...
Here's Lester Young at Birdland in August 1956 playing Three Little Words, with an unknown trumpeter, Lester Young (ts), Bill Triglia (p), Gene Ramey (b) and Gus Johnson (d)...
Here's Polka Dots and Moonbeams from the same gig...
And here's one more, Up 'n' Adam...
Here's Zoot Sims at the Red Hill Inn in Pennsauken, N.J., on December 22, 1956 playing There Will Never Be Another You and You Go to My Head, with Zoot Sims (ts), Bill Triglia (p), Nelson Boyd (b) and Charlie Blackwell (d)...
Here's the Jimmy Knepper Quintet in June 1957 playing Jumpin' the Blues Away, with Jimmy Knepper (tb), Joe Maini (as), Bill Triglia (p), Charles Mingus (b) and Dannie Richmond (d)...
Here's the full Tijuana Moods from July and August 1957, with Clarence "Gene" Shaw (tp), Jimmy Knepper (tb), Shafi Hadi (as,ts), Bill Triglia (p), Charles Mingus (b), Dannie Richmond (d), Frankie Dunlop (castanets), Ysabel Morel (voice, handclaps) and Lonnie Elder (narration)...
And here's Dave Schildkraut, live in New Haven, Ct, on August 12, 1979, with Dave Schildkraut (ts), Bill Triglia (p), Jeff Fuller (b) and Frank Bennett (d)...
For more on Billy Triglia, see Allen Lowe's Jazz Forums post from 2009 here.