Billy Maxted

A fine pianist and a skillful arranger, Billy Maxted is largely forgotten today because his recordings were mostly for tiny labels. Maxted started out playing and arranging for the Red Nichols big band during 1937-1940. He worked briefly with Ben Pollack and Teddy Powell, and played with Will Bradley (1941-1942), sitting in the chair formerly held by Freddie Slack. After serving in the Navy, he provided arrangements for Benny Goodman and Claude Thornhill and co-led a band with Ray Eberle (1947-1948). In the late '40s Maxted put together his own Dixieland group (the Manhattan J...