Billy Bang (b. William Vincent Walker, Mobile, Alabama, September 20, 1947 & died on Apr 11th 2011) was an American free jazz violinist and composer. Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a child he attended a special school for musicians in nearby Harlem. At that school, students were assigned instruments based on their physical size. Bang was fairly small, so he received a violin instead of either of his first choices, the saxophone or the drums.