Composer, arranger, bandleader, lyricist, and drummer Art Lillard leads The Heavenly Band, Blue Heaven, The Art Lillard Trio, The 9th Street Stompers, The Three Corners Trio and the On-Time Quartet.
He grew up in Miami, where his jazz roots include playing with the great master Ira Sullivan and studying with pianist/composer Wally Cirillo. Art also studied at Karl Berger’s Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York. Subsequently, he graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a bachelor’s degree in composition and arranging, having garnered multiple scholarships and honors along the way.
Art’s nine-horn Heavenly Band has been playing in clubs and concert spaces since 1987. Their cd, “Reasons to be Thankful,” was released on the Summit Records label in 2006.
A professional drummer since 1970, Art has had a rich performing career, leading and co-leading several smaller jazz ensembles, and as a sideman in groups of various musical genres, including jazz, country & western, cabaret, rock, and show music. He has recorded with some of these groups. In 1998, Art's seven-piece swing band, Blue Heaven, appeared on television playing original compositions on two episodes of CBS's "Guiding Light" series.
Art has written hundreds of compositions in a wide range of musical genres. Regularly commissioned by performers, producers and other composers to arrange music for vocalists and instrumental groups, his works have been recorded on CD by vibraphonist Gust Tsilis, vocalist Larry Browne, saxophonist Claire Daly, flutist Jan Leder, and the band Groovalaya.
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