Billy Bauer (November 14, 1915 – June 16, 2005) was an American jazz guitarist. William Henry Bauer was born in New York City. He played ukulele and banjo as a child before switching to guitar. He played with the Jerry Wald band and recorded with Carl Hoff and His Orchestra in 1941^[2] before joining Woody Herman in 1944 as a member of the First Herd. In 1946 he played with Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden.

Working in small groups led by bassist Chubby Jackson and trombonist Bill Harris, Bauer established himself as a soloist in the bebop movement.

In 1946 he began working with Lennie Tristano. Tristano and Bauer enjoyed a natural synergy in their style and approach. Their development of “intuitive music” led to the 1949 session which included “Intuition“, and “Digression”. He was a member of the NBC Tonight Show band in New York City and played in the Today Show band at the start of early television.

Bauer continued his pioneering guitar work in a partnership with Lee Konitz, whose avant-garde saxophone work was a perfect match for Bauer’s guitar. The two musicians’ dialogue crossed styles from bop and cool to the avant-garde. Their recordings have been described as “some of the most beautiful duet recordings in jazz”. “Duet For Saxophone and Guitar” was an unusual instrument pairing which has been described as redefining the role of jazz guitar.