Raised in the metropolitan area of northern New Jersey, playing drums since age 12, studying Classical/Jazz piano and graduating from William Paterson University studying percussion, Ford picked up the steel drum from nearby Brooklyn, New York's Caribbean enclave.
"The pan is really a combination of the rhythm aspect of drums and harmonic aspect of piano"
William Ford crosses musical
borders from Brazilian and Caribbean, to R&B and Jazz. In
the context of his compositions, modeled after contemporary and
Jazz standards, the "Steel Pan" is the featured voice.