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William "Bill" Dobbins (b. April 25, 1947 in Akron, Ohio) is an American pianist, composer, Jazz pedagogue and bandleader.

Life and Work
As a classical pianist he has worked with Pierre Boulez, Lukas Foss, und Louis Lane. In 1972, he was one of the prizewinners of the Internation Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of New Music. Since 1973, Dobbins has taught at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and directed the jazz department from 1989 until his retirement in 2022.

From 1994 to 2002, he was the director of the WDR Big Band Cologne, and worked with Clark Terry, Al Cohn, Red Mitchell, Phil Woods, Bill Goodwin, Dave Liebman, Kevin Mahogany, Rolf Römer and Paquito D’Rivera. He also recorded during this time in a trio with John Goldsby and Peter Erskine. Beginning in 1998, he was also the jazz department director for the Hochschule für Musik Köln.

In July 2002, he returned to the States, where he again taught at the "Eastman School of Music". He was the director of the jazz department and oversaw the degree programs in Jazz Performance and Jazz Composition/Arranging, and directed the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and Eastman Studio Orchestra. In the summer of 2007, he served as guest conductor of the Bundesjugendjazzorchester, the official youth jazz orchestra of the Federal Republic of Germany. He has also directed other jazz ensembles such as the Metropole Orkest.

Dobbins's instructional works, including his published books and videos, are among the standard works in jazz pedagogy.

Discography

 * Prism: The WDR Big Band Plays the Music of Bill Dobbins and Peter Erskine (Advance Music, 1998)
 * Rolf Römer & Bill Dobbins A Tribute to B.A.C.H. (GLM, 1999)
 * Preludes & Predilections Vol. 1-4 (Advance Music, 2002)
 * Cologne (Trio mit John Goldsby und Peter Erskine; Fuzzy Music, 2003)
 * J. S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio (The King’s Singers, WDR Bigband und Bill Dobbins; signum classics, 2009)

Books

 * The contemporary Jazz pianist, volumes 1 through 4, Charles Colin, 1978-1989
 * Jazz Arranging and Composing, Advance Music 1986
 * with Herbie Hancock: Herbie Hancock: classic jazz compositions and piano solos, Advance Music 1992
 * A creative approach to Jazz piano harmony, Advance Music 1994
 * Composing and Arranging for the Contemporary Big Band, Advance Music, Alfred Music; Pap/Com edition 2015

Journal articles

 * Jürgen Wölfer: Jazz in Deutschland. Das Lexikon. Alle Musiker und Plattenfirmen von 1920 bis heute. Hannibal, Höfen 2008, ISBN 978-3-85445-274-4.

Links

 * Interview with Dobbins
 * Page at the Eastman School