Willy Dalton has been a working guitarist since 1970. Born in Manhattan, he began performing professionally in San Francisco, moved to Southern Florida in 1974, and settled in the NY Metropolitan Area in 1977. Well known artists he has performed or recorded with include Bo Diddley, Cissy Houston, Ben E. King, The Shirelles, Pam Tate, Mary Wells, Eddie Monteiro, Joe Cocuzzo, Daniel Ponce, and many others. He has also arranged, produced , and supervised the manufacture of over 15,000 compact discs for various artists. He formed his own record label and released 4 CDs by The Dalton Gang--a 10 piece band he has led as guitarist/composer/arranger since 1979. “Just For Tonight”, the 3rd cd, released in 2002, reached #39 on the National Jazz Chart. In addition to live performances with the Dalton Gang and others, he has arranged and composed music in many formats for ensembles ranging from small jazz groups to big bands to symphony orchestras.

brief bio

Willy Dalton has been a working guitarist since 1970. Born in Manhattan, he began performing professionally in San Francisco, moved to Southern Florida in 1974, and settled in the NY Metropolitan Area in 1977. Well known artists he has performed or recorded with include Bo Diddley, Cissy Houston, Ben E. King, The Shirelles, Pam Tate, Mary Wells, Eddie Monteiro, Anthony Jackson, Joe Cocuzzo, Daniel Ponce, and many others. He has also arranged, produced , and supervised the manufacture of over 15,000 compact discs for various artists. He formed his own record label and released 4 CDs by The Dalton Gang--a 10 piece band he has led as guitarist/composer/arranger since 1979. The most recent release, “Just For Tonight”, reached #39 on the National Jazz Chart. In addition to live performances with the Dalton Gang and others, he has arranged and composed music in many formats for ensembles ranging from small jazz groups to big bands to symphony orchestras. In 1997 he received a grant from the Urban History Initiative to compose a work for string quartet and guitar. The composition, “Riverwalk”, premiered in January 1998. Besides his interest in jazz and pop guitar styles he has also studied classical and flamenco guitar. His flamenco inspired piece, WTC911, was one of the 19 original compositions included in the September Rising CD tribute to the victims of 9/11.For the past 3 years he lead the 18 piece band at Richie Cecere’s Supper Club in Montclair NJ every Friday and Saturday. He has private guitar students and is an adjunct guitar instructor at Passaic Community College in Paterson, NJ, where he lives.