Bill DeArango

Bill DeArango
Bill DeArango, Terry Gibbs, and Harry Biss, "Three Deuces", New York City, June 1947, photo: William P. Gottlieb
Background information
Born	(1921-09-20)September 20, 1921 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 26, 2005(2005-12-26) Cleveland
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1930s–1990s

Bill DeArango (September 20, 1921, Cleveland, Ohio – December 26, 2005, Cleveland) was an American jazz guitarist.

DeArango was self-taught on guitar. While he attended Ohio State University, he played with Dixieland bands at night. After serving in the Army from 1942–44, he moved to New York City and worked first with Don Byas and Ben Webster. A year later, he played on an album with Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Soon after, he worked as a sideman with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ike Quebec, Slam Stewart. Then he led his own band with Terry Gibbs.

DeArango left New York to return to Cleveland in 1947, and primarily performed locally for the next two decades, in addition to running a record store. He recorded an album with pianist John Williams in 1954. Late in the 1960s he managed the rock band Henry Tree, and held a regular gig in the 1970s at the Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland with Ernie Krivda and Skip Hadden, mixing hard rock and free jazz.

His next recording was on the album Another Time/Another Place (Muse, 1978) by Barry Altschul, then 298 Bridge Street (1981) by Kenny Werner, and Names (1983) by Jamey Haddad. In 1993, he released Anything Went with Joe Lovano. He entered a nursing home in 1999 and suffered dementia until his death seven years later, although he continued performing locally until late 2001.