* En anglais uniquement
As staff arranger for
Jean Goldkette (1926) and
Paul Whiteman (1927-1930),
Bill Challis was largely responsible for majority of the two big bands' most jazz-oriented charts, including "Sunday," "My Pretty Girl," "Changes," "Dardanella," and most notably "San."
Challis also wrote for
Frankie Trumbauer's small-group dates with
Bix Beiderbecke, and assisted
Beiderbecke in documenting piano pieces (including "In a Mist"). After leaving, he contributed arrangements to quite a few big bands, including
Fletcher Henderson,
the Dorsey Brothers,
the Casa Loma Orchestra,
Artie Shaw ("Blues in the Night"), many radio orchestras, and pop sessions.
Challis was active into the 1960s, and in 1986 many of his best arrangements were recorded by Vince Giordano's Nighthawks and
Tom Pletcher (
The Goldkette Project). ~ Scott Yanow