Billy Root

Born on 6 March 1934 in Philadelphia, Billy Root was an American tenor and baritone saxophonist whose father, a drummer, took him to see Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Jimmie Lunceford at the Earle Theater in 1939. Root started playing saxophone at age ten and was already sitting in with Hot Lips Page at age 16. He went on the road with Hal McIntyre's orchestra, then returned to Philadelphia to work smaller jazz clubs before becoming house tenor saxophonist at Philadelphia's Blue Note club, where he played with every act that passed through including Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Art Blakey, and Kenny Dorham. In 1953, he arrived in New York with Bennie Green to play a featured show at the Apollo Theater.

Throughout the 1950s, Root worked extensively with Stan Kenton, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, and Curtis Fuller. In 1959, he premiered John Lewis's large orchestra work "European Windows" as soloist with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He replaced Billy Mitchell with the Al Grey Quintet, playing major jazz clubs before appearing at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Jazz Festivals, then did a three-month stint with Harry James Orchestra. Returning to Philadelphia for his growing family, Root decided to stop travelling and worked local club dates whilst studying flute, alto flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet for seven years. In 1968, he performed two concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris on saxophone.

Root moved to Las Vegas in spring 1968, performing with large showroom orchestras for production shows and accompanying stars including Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, and Juliet Prowse. His sole leadership recording, Live at Cappozzoli's in Las Vegas with trumpeter Vinnie Tanno, was recorded in 1999. Root died on 30 July 2013 aged 79 from Parkinson's disease.

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