Billy Mackel

Who was Billy Mackel?

John William "Billy" Mackel was an American jazz guitarist.

Mackel played banjo early in his career in his home town of Baltimore, but switched to guitar in the 1930s. He led his own band early in the 1940s, then joined Lionel Hampton in 1944. Mackel worked with Hampton, with occasional intermissions, for over thirty years, touring and recording with him copiously. In the 1940s he also recorded with Milt Buckner, Arnett Cobb, Herbie Fields, and others, and worked with Billy Williams in the 1960s.