Isle of Wight jazz fans pay tribute to Bill Wills on his 90th birthday

Isle of Wight jazz drummer Bill Wills celebrated his 90^th birthday in style by hosting a special Newport Jazz Club concert … and inviting his grandson Jonathan Wills to play the drums.

41-year-old Jonathan, who’s a professional musician, admitted he was a bit nervous as his Grandad was in the front row, but says he was honoured to join the line-up for Bill’s Big Birthday Bash at the Apollo Theatre.

“I taught Jonathan everything I knew then, after he graduated from music school, he started to teach me,” says Bill. “I’m thrilled he still plays some jazz and hopefully one of his children will carry on the tradition.”

Jazz has been a lifelong passion for Bill: “My dad was a drummer and there were always drums around the house,” he explains. “During the war, there weren’t many toys around so, when I was five or six, I started to play them. I grew up listening to a lot of good jazz musicians, but Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer ever.

“I first came to the Isle of Wight in 1951 to do two years national service where I met my future wife Pauline. With my friends Peter Trueman and Mike Whitehead, I took over Newport Jazz Club about 12 years ago and Wightlink has been supporting us ever since so we can bring performers across the Solent to join us, we couldn’t have done it without the ferries.”

The Birthday Bash line-up was Nette Robinson (vocals), Tony Woods (saxophone), Alan Barnes (saxophones), Andy Urquhart (trumpet), Dave Newton (piano), Jonathan Wills (drums), Nick Page (guitar), Jon Thorn (bass) and Gary Plumley (saxophone). Newport Jazz Club favourite Cass Caswell was unable to be there because of health problems.

The generous audience donated £348 to Bill’s charities Marie Curie Nurses and Blind Veterans UK. A raffle in support of Newport Jazz Club raised £153.

Picture caption, Jazz drummers Bill Wills and his grandson Jonathan Wills 

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