![]() ![]() The book was so hard to play every night that I wondered how Bill would be able to continue at that pace as he got older. I did hear Chase live in Fort Worth at Haltom High School six months before the plane crash that killed Bill and half of the band. I was just too young to be able to go hear them. I never heard Bill play live with the band, and it’s my loss. Woody used his trumpet section like a firing squad and the band had the power of an explosion when they let it loose. He had an energy that propelled the band like no other. When the Woody Herman band was winning best band awards in 1963 it’s no accident Bill was playing lead. ![]() You can hear the beginnings of Chase when you listen to some of the Woody Herman recordings. Bill played lead with Woody, and wrote tunes that featured the trumpet section and himself. I’ve include two tunes in the video, that showcase Bill’s playing and writing. There will probably never be another group like this again. It’s the last time we have heard a great rock band with four trumpets who play the lead. After his death, Maynard had the place to himself as he toured and played at college campuses.Įvery band and DCI group played “Get It On” at some point, which was the hit tune by Chase. His rock group was just getting famous and he was becoming as popular as Maynard Ferguson with the younger crowd. I’ll never forget hearing the news that day and thinking about what a tragic loss to the trumpet world. Bill was the great lead trumpet player with Woody Herman and others, and the leader of the rock group, Chase. Today reminds me that Bill Chase was killed in a plane crash 41 years ago. ![]()
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