Louisiana Association for Jazz Education
		Bill Causey Jr.                                           Inducted 2005 Bill Causey, Jr. (b. 1943, Natchitoches) is a native of Louisiana and a lifelong resident of Shreveport. He has been active as a trumpet performer for over forty years, demonstrating mastery in a variety of styles; classical, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. Mr. Causey received his early musical training from his father, B. P. Causey, Director of Bands at Centenary College from 1941-1981. He pursued further study on the trumpet with Leonard Smith, Don Jacoby, and Dr. Frank Simon, one-time comet soloist with the John Philip Sousa Band. Mr. Causey received both his bachelor of music (1968) and master of education (1992) degrees from Centenary College.  In 1999 he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Bill Causey has spent more than twenty years as a band director in the Caddo Parish schools, including seventeen years as Director of Bands at Captain Shreve High School and three years at Southwood High School.  While at Shreve, Mr. Causey developed bands known for technical brilliance and musical expression.  He formed the jazz program there in 1969 which won many honors all over the southeast. As Director of Bands at Southwood High School, he reestablished excellence as a standard for the Southwood bands. Mr. Causey retired from public school in June, 1998 and served as director of the Jazz Ensemble at Centenary College from 1998 to 2000 and continues to perform in the Ark-La-Tex area.  During his tenure at Captain Shreve High School, Mr. Causey founded the Shreveport All City Jazz Band (1970), an ensemble comprised of the finest high school musicians from the Ark-La-Tex, including Mike Williams, currently lead trumpet player with the Count Basie Orchestra. The All-City Jazz Band provided a worthy venue for the enrichment of scores of eager young musicians, many of whom have continued to pursue music as performers and lifelong musicians. He served as President of the Louisiana chapter of the National Association of Jazz Educators from 1972-74 and has served in various administrative capacities in the Louisiana Music Educators Association. He was also selected for membership in Phi Beta Mu, a band directors professional fraternity. In 1971 he organized the Holiday In Dixie Jazz Festival, a contest for high school jazz bands from throughout Louisiana and Texas, and he was coordinator of the Shreveport Jazz Festival from 1993-94. During his extensive teaching career, Mr. Causey has endeavored to provide professional models for his students in the area of jazz education, sponsoring school performances by the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Maynard Ferguson Band, the United States Air Force Airman of Note.   As a trumpet performer, Bill Causey, Jr. has appeared with The Four Tops, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Lou Rawls, Wayne Newton, Conway Twitty, and Mitzi Gaynor. He has performed for Holiday On Ice, the Icecapades, Stars of the Lawrence Welk Show, Disney on Parade, A Chorus Line and The Stars Live show at Hollywood Casino. In addition, he has organized and led his own big band, the Bill Causey Orchestra, founded in 1972 and has performed with many other local bands.As a conductor, Mr. Causey has served as musical director for the Shreveport Debutante Ball, the Holiday-In-Dixie Cotillion, the Krewe of Parlangua, and the Junior League Follies. Moreover, he is active in community affairs, having served as Vice President of the Holiday In Dixie Festival (1973-86), as Coordinator for the Independence Bowl pre-game and halftime entertainment (1981-88), as a member of the Shreveport Bicentennial Celebration Commission (1976), as a member of the Clyde E. Fant Parkway Extension Committee (1967-69), and as Area Representative for the Citizens' Committee for Community Improvement (1966-67). Bill is married to the former Judith Kleinhans, currently a homist in the Shreveport Symphony. They have three children; Andy, Chad, and Megan.