“Treat every gig with equal respect.  Never give less than 100%.  Expect the unexpected, and don’t give up.”

Sometimes at a concert, if the headlining act is a group, and not an individual, you tend to forget that the cohesive band of musicians you see performing onstage is not really one entity, but the sum of individual parts.  Sure, everyone gets to do a couple of solos, but it’s really the group that the audience hears and identifies with.  We know and love the music of a particular group, but what do we really (musically) know about the individual players?  One can argue whether the whole may or may not be greater than the sum of it’s’ parts, but there’s no denying that the whole can only be as good as the parts its’ comprised of.  

So, what happens when you see familiar musicians playing in situations outside of the group that you identify them with?  What happens is that you’re pleasantly surprised by what you see and hear. 

The first night of this year’s Berks Jazz Festival, we attended the highly anticipated and respected late night jam session.  The place was filled with musicians wanting to play, and fans wanting to hear them.  I looked over at the current band about to play and noticed a familiar face on keys.  Was that Bill Heller?  Are the Rippingtons here?  I didn’t notice them on the line-up.  Who is he playing with?  (The Rippingtons were not there.  I would find out later that he was playing with the Sax Pack on Saturday).  Bill played for a long time that night as musicians rotated in and out.  He was a big part of the musical magic that was created onstage during this jam session.  With that in mind, Smoothviews goes to Long Island, New York to get to know a little more about long time Rippingtons keyboardist Bill Heller.

Bill Heller was born and raised in Massapequa, Long Island into a very musical family where everyone either plays and/or sings.  He still calls Long Island home.  Bill’s mother played piano and his father played concertina.  His older brother plays guitar and his younger brother plays bass.  Bill’s first instrument was the accordion.  “My parents brought my older brother and me to a neighborhood music teacher and he gave us a music aptitude test.  He determined that my brother should play guitar and I should play the accordion.  I started taking lessons when I was about eight years old.  Somewhere around the time I was fourteen or so, I switched over to the piano.   He also played tenor sax while in school.  Music was an integral part of Heller family life.  Bill’s mother is Italian, and oftentimes, extended family would join them and they would all sing old Italian songs to his grandmother.  “We learned that music is something to be shared socially.”

Bill has had many musical influences over the years, from many genres of music, but two of his favorites are Bill Evans and Chick Corea.  He attended Nassau Community College (on Long Island) and then transferred to SUNY Fredonia (State University of New York @ Fredonia) where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education.  From early on, a career in music was evident, but what form it would take was not quite clear yet while in school.    After graduation, he taught for a brief time, but realized that’s not what he really wanted to do.   Throughout his high school and college years, he played in clubs and on gigs in and around Long Island and he loved it.   “I wanted to make a decent living in music.  In order to do this, I realized that I would have to diversify, whether that included teaching, performing, recording, or working in various different areas such as publishing.  So far it has worked out for me.” 

Bill has been a part of the Rippingtons since 1998 when he recorded on their Topaz album.  Since that time, he has become an integral part of the band and has both recorded and hit the road with them.  We look forward to hearing his contributions when we see the Rippingtons in concert.

We became aware of Bill through the Rippingtons, but he has played with many people before and during his time with this legendary band.  As mentioned earlier, he was playing with the Sax Pack when we saw him at Berks.  He has also played with Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, Eric Marienthal, Nelson Rangell, Matt Marshak, Dave Valentine, Randy Brecker, and a host of other talented players.  There are many others he would like to play with, too many to mention.  It’s safe to say that the possibilities are endless.   One of the reasons he has been able to sustain a successful career over the years has to do with his work ethic.  “You could use the old quote from elementary school, ‘works well (plays well) with others.’  I have made an effort to be a team player, and always make sure I come prepared to each and every gig.”  This is also advice he would give to anyone aspiring to make it in this industry.    

Family is important to him, and Bill is a devoted family man.   When not making music, he enjoys doing things with his family, including cooking and traveling.
In addition to performing with the Rippingtons, Bill has been producing a new album for guitarist Craig Chaquico.  He has worked with Craig on several previous albums.   He also recorded a pop album with Canadian singer Kaya, which is starting to get airplay.

After many years of working and performing with other people, Bill has decided to work on his own music project.  It will be mostly a contemporary oriented piano album.  “It will feature some of my friends who happen to be some of the finest musicians that I have ever had the pleasure to work with, such as Eric Marienthal and Jeff Kashiwa.  I am going to have three different rhythm sections: Dave Karasony & Rico Belled from the Ripps, Joel Rosenblatt & Dave Anderson, and Frank Bellucci & Jim Cammack.”  This project sounds very exciting.  Now that he’s given us a little tease, we eagerly await the finished project.

While we anticipate Bill’s first self project, look for the new Rippingtons CD to release on August 28th. And make sure you catch Bill on tour when the Ripps hit the road to support their upcoming new release this fall.