William Alexander Galison (born February 19, 1958) is an American harmonica player. [1]
Galison was born and raised in New York City. [1] As a child, he started to study piano, but at the age of eight he decided to switch to guitar, having been inspired by the Beatles. [1] He developed a love of jazz in high school and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. [1] He decided to change to the harmonica because "I was one of a million guitarists at Berklee" [1] and it was easy to carry around. [2] He was Berklee's only harmonica player. [1] He toured extensively in Europe with Billy Leadbelly (Bill Gough from Hatfield UK). [1] Among his role models at the time were Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder. [1]
After Berklee, he studied at Wesleyan University, then returned to New York City in 1982. [1]
He performed at various New York venues, including The Village Gate, The Blue Note and the Lone Star Cafe with jazz musicians Jaco Pastorius and Jaki Byard. [1] He also played with his own group at Preacher's Cafe in Greenwich Village. [1]
Galison has worked with Carly Simon, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Chaka Khan, Steve Tyrell, and Astrud Gilberto. [1] He performed Gordon Jacob's "Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra" and toured the US in the Broadway musical Big River. [1] He has recorded soundtracks for films, including Academy Award nominees The Untouchables and Bagdad Café. [1] His harmonica is also heard on the Sesame Street theme ("a great honor") [2] and commercials. [1] Other television work includes Oz and Saturday Night Live. [3][ better source needed]
One of his major influences and role models, Toots Thielemans, once described him as "the most original and individual of the new generation of harmonica players". [1]
In 2002, Galison met jazz singer and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux in a bar in Greenwich Village. [4] They started to play music together and eventually moved in together. [4]
By the end of the year Peyroux had moved out and the couple had broken up, but they continued playing together and recorded a seven-song CD called Got You on My Mind in February 2003. [4] Peyroux's contract with Rounder Records prohibited her from selling the Got You on My Mind recording, and she stopped performing with Galison. [4] Galison continued to sell the recording and claimed that he was owed payment for canceled performances. [4] After threatened legal action from Peyroux's lawyer, Galison sued Peyroux, the lawyer, and Rounder. [4] [5] [6]
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William Alexander Galison (born February 19, 1958) is an American harmonica player. [1]
Galison was born and raised in New York City. [1] As a child, he started to study piano, but at the age of eight he decided to switch to guitar, having been inspired by the Beatles. [1] He developed a love of jazz in high school and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. [1] He decided to change to the harmonica because "I was one of a million guitarists at Berklee" [1] and it was easy to carry around. [2] He was Berklee's only harmonica player. [1] He toured extensively in Europe with Billy Leadbelly (Bill Gough from Hatfield UK). [1] Among his role models at the time were Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder. [1]
After Berklee, he studied at Wesleyan University, then returned to New York City in 1982. [1]
He performed at various New York venues, including The Village Gate, The Blue Note and the Lone Star Cafe with jazz musicians Jaco Pastorius and Jaki Byard. [1] He also played with his own group at Preacher's Cafe in Greenwich Village. [1]
Galison has worked with Carly Simon, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Chaka Khan, Steve Tyrell, and Astrud Gilberto. [1] He performed Gordon Jacob's "Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra" and toured the US in the Broadway musical Big River. [1] He has recorded soundtracks for films, including Academy Award nominees The Untouchables and Bagdad Café. [1] His harmonica is also heard on the Sesame Street theme ("a great honor") [2] and commercials. [1] Other television work includes Oz and Saturday Night Live. [3][ better source needed]
One of his major influences and role models, Toots Thielemans, once described him as "the most original and individual of the new generation of harmonica players". [1]
In 2002, Galison met jazz singer and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux in a bar in Greenwich Village. [4] They started to play music together and eventually moved in together. [4]
By the end of the year Peyroux had moved out and the couple had broken up, but they continued playing together and recorded a seven-song CD called Got You on My Mind in February 2003. [4] Peyroux's contract with Rounder Records prohibited her from selling the Got You on My Mind recording, and she stopped performing with Galison. [4] Galison continued to sell the recording and claimed that he was owed payment for canceled performances. [4] After threatened legal action from Peyroux's lawyer, Galison sued Peyroux, the lawyer, and Rounder. [4] [5] [6]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link)