EPISODE 85 - Billy Carrión

Rabbit Hole Sessions with Abe Ovadia

Billy Carrión is a multidimensional bassist that has gathered musical skills from alternate realities, to become one of the hardest grooving musicians on the scene today. Billy’s mission is simple: evolve every piece of music in any genre to its highest, purest, most beautiful form, while preserving music the masters have left everyone throughout space and time. Billy has had quite the musical journey- a requirement to understanding as many aspects of music as possible.
On various instruments pre pandemic, Billy was able to work with some of the most influential musicians and producers in music, including Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Tim Gilles, Henry Cole, Giovanni Hidalgo, Suit Of Lights, Alfredo Rodriguez, Papo Vazquez, Ray Santos, and many more- a 20+ year journey so far. Billy’s influences are quite wide, including jazz, Latin music, rock… but the majority come from the depth of 8 and 16 bit video games. “Music I listened to 30+ years ago that I can still hum today,” is how he explains it. “I love music from the 70’s- especially anything with a clavé, and electronic jazz, which was called fusion back then, anything from the ECM record label, etc.. and you can hear those influences in the game music I was exposed to in my youth in the 80’s and 90’s.
Billy is currently performing with the electric jazz group known as U.L.T.R.A. S - Universe Less Traveled Reveals Authentic Self. The band has been lighting up the NY/NJ music scene for the last few years, and has original music slated to be released in May 2024 on all streaming platforms. Billy also has a brand new acoustic jazz quartet featuring Pete Rodriguez on Trumpet, Campbell Charshee on Piano, and Jarrett Walser on drums. For his 40th b-day, Billy recorded 4 of his favorite covers (with Jonathan Peretz on drums) that will be released at the end of 2024. As a leader, Billy has performed at places and events such as the Bergen County Music Festival, Chris’s Jazz Cafe, Trumpets Jazz Club, The Beanrunner Cafe, Crossroads, Somethin’ Jazz Club, The Watt Hotel, and even a 9 year residency at the now closed DLV Lounge, a jazz club that stood strong for 50 years in Montclair NJ. You can also catch Billy as a sideman with various acts around the NY/NJ area. Billy also has a Twitch channel where he streams the old school games that influenced him musically, as well as occasional improvised synth music and live band performances.