Big Bill Bissonnette

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Big Bill Bissonnette (February 5, 1937 – June 26, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist, drummer, and record producer who loved New Orleans jazz and its veteran Black musicians. In the 1960s he led the Easy Riders Jazz Band and started the Jazz Crusade record label. He organized northern tours for Kid Thomas Valentine, George Lewis, and Jim Robinson, and produced more than 100 jazz recordings for Jazz Crusade, while playing on over 50 sessions himself. The Easy Riders Jazz Band became one of the most respected revival groups of the era. Bissonnette helped bring Sammy Rimington to the United States and worked with many great players, including Alvin Alcorn, Red Allen, Zutty Singleton, and Kid Thomas Valentine. He won the Jazzology Jazz Poll as “New Young Artist” in 1965, and more than 30 years later ranked No. 5 among all jazz trombonists in the same poll. After a break from music, he published his memoir, The Jazz Crusade, in 1992, relaunched his label, and began playing again. In the 1990s he documented the British jazz scene with the Best of the Brits album series. He retired in 2006 and died in 2018 at age 81.