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Jazz maverick Bill Dixon dead at 87
BENNINGTON, Vt., (UPI) -- Bill Dixon, a leader of the avant-garde jazz scene in the 1960s, died at his home in Vermont at the age of 87, a spokesman said.
Dixon, a trumpeter who founded the short-lived Jazz Composers Guild, died Wednesday in North Bennington of unspecified causes, Scott Mehinick, a representative of his estate said.
Dixon was painted as a maverick and something of an activist in American jazz. The New York Times said he was as well known for his advocacy for free-form improvisational music that bordered on the pure abstract.
He was one of the organizers of "The October Revolution," a 1964 musicians' summit that set the stage for modern-day musician-run festivals.
Dixon also had an eye on the nuts-and-bolts of making a living playing jazz. He formed the Jazz Composers Guild as a platform for musicians to raise their media profile and their bargaining power with club owners.
The Jazz Composers Guild called for a strike, but it did not materialize and the guild folded in less than a year.
Dixon moved on to a teaching career at Bennington College and continued recording into the 1980s.
BENNINGTON, Vt., (UPI) -- Bill Dixon, a leader of the avant-garde jazz scene in the 1960s, died at his home in Vermont at the age of 87, a spokesman said.
Dixon, a trumpeter who founded the short-lived Jazz Composers Guild, died Wednesday in North Bennington of unspecified causes, Scott Mehinick, a representative of his estate said.
Dixon was painted as a maverick and something of an activist in American jazz. The New York Times said he was as well known for his advocacy for free-form improvisational music that bordered on the pure abstract.
He was one of the organizers of "The October Revolution," a 1964 musicians' summit that set the stage for modern-day musician-run festivals.
Dixon also had an eye on the nuts-and-bolts of making a living playing jazz. He formed the Jazz Composers Guild as a platform for musicians to raise their media profile and their bargaining power with club owners.
The Jazz Composers Guild called for a strike, but it did not materialize and the guild folded in less than a year.
Dixon moved on to a teaching career at Bennington College and continued recording into the 1980s.