William J. Tennyson, Jr.

William "Bill" J. Tennyson Jr. (1923–1959) was a notable American jazz musician.

Career A Louisiana Creole, Tennyson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and his father was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. After his mother died when Tennyson was aged three, he and his two younger siblings moved to live with their grandmother, Mathilda, who had formerly owned a sugar cane plantation near the Bayous of Louisiana.

"Bill" was a major part of Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance period. He attended a university in Louisiana at age 13, was a self-taught musician and, aged 16, was one of the first of color to attend the world-renowned Juilliard School of Music. He was an ASCAP member from 1950.

During the latter part of his career, he partnered with Fay Tishman

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