eCREATIVE
15
W
hen you ask Bill Payne why he became a musician, he mentions
two names: Don Kramer and Frank Derrick, Jr. Raised in Harvey,
Illinois near Chicago, Payne studied clarinet with Kramer and
saxophone with Derrick, Jr. “As a teenager [in the late Sixties], I
had seen the movies “Barefoot in the Park” and “Bell, Book, and Candle” and they
had left an impression on me about New York City that I found irresistible,” he
said. By the time Payne graduated from high school he had read everything he
could about the history of jazz from the Swing Era to Charlie Parker to Lennie
Tristano.
In 1974, Payne worked as a musician in Russ Carlyle’s Band, barnstorming around
the country playing one-nighters in Midwest towns. He moved to New York City
on a la