Bill Rank

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Bill Rank

| image =

| caption =

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| birth_name = William C. Rank

| alias =

| birth_place = Lafayette, Indiana, US

| birth_date = June 8, 1904

| death_place = Cincinnati, US

| death_date = May 20, 1979 (aged 74)

| origin =

| instrument = Trombone

| genre = Jazz

| associated_acts = Bix Beiderbecke, Jean Goldkette

}}

William C. Rank (June 8, 1904 – May 20, 1979){{cite book|title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=2042}} was an American jazz trombonist.

Rank was born in Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and initially worked in Indiana and Florida.{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2003 |entry=Rank, Bill [William C.] |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J370300 |title=Rank, Bill |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 }} In 1922, Rank played trombone in Tade's Singing Orchestra, which was led by violinist, Tade Dolen."This Singing Orchestra is in the State," Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio); July 2, 1922; Amusement and Auto News Section - page 5) Between 1923 and 1927 he played with Jean Goldkette's band in Detroit and often recorded with Bix Beiderbecke. After playing with Adrian Rollini in 1927 and a period as a freelance, Rank joined Paul Whiteman's band, and stayed until 1938. He was then a studio musician in Hollywood into the early 1940s, when he moved to Cincinnati. There, he led a tenet for the rest of the 1940s.

Rank then changed to playing part-time while also working in insurance.{{cite web |last=Yanow |first=Scott |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-rank-mn0000533443/biography |title=Bill Rank |website=AllMusic |accessdate=February 4, 2020}} His one album as a leader, a tribute to Beiderbecke, was recorded in 1973. Rank continued playing until a short time before his death, on May 20, 1979, in Cincinnati.