This is exactly what he wanted for the second half of his life, to be a musician. Five or six nights a week, Bill Hughes of West Salem is a jazz man.

 "I played hard for a couple of years, but didn't play in med school," he said prior to a recent Friday gig at Alessandro's. "I was so busy with work and family."

Hughes doesn't worry about that anymore. Still married, the kids grown, it was his medical practice that stood in his way: not enough time to practice his guitar licks and too much time spent toiling at his job.

During his stint as doctor, he couldn't get the persistent thought of making music out of his head, so in 2003 he decided it was time to trade in the stethoscope for the tune of his guitar.  
Hughes began this journey by hitting the street. Scaling back his hours at the clinic, he practiced endlessly for about five years and eventually worked up the courage to enter businesses in town trying to convince them they needed to offer live music.  

Rejections piled up until he eventually landed a gig with a quartet at Alessandro's, playing in the gallery.

"After 40 years, the gig expectation was pretty low," he said of his first days as a professional.
Now Hughes is a regular at the restaurant on Friday nights and performs several gigs and private parties throughout town each week, including The Book Bin on Sundays and Grand Vines on Tuesdays.

He began playing blues harp (harmonica) as a hobbyist and gigged around with a band of friends in California for a while, but when one of his friends put on a record by Joe Pass, Hughes put down the harp and immediately picked up a guitar and began to teach himself the essentials of jazz.

"Just like that and it was magic," the Everett, Wash. native said describing his awakening. He's still learning to play, he joked during the Alessandro's gig. "Jazz really takes a long time to learn and it's really complicated."

Patrons at places such as Alessandro's eat, read and drink as he creates an ambiance that seems to keep people happy and hearty.

When he plays, he seems to cease being Bill Hughes and becomes the unobtrusive man in the corner with a guitar. He produces a crisp, solid sound that's also light and skillful enough that people in the place might forget it's coming from the man in the corner, but their fingers tap the top of the bar or their feet bounce on the bar stool.

When a song ends, he usually pauses for a moment while choosing another from the set of over 1,000 songs stored in his memory.

"Another Miles song," he suggests to his pianist partner at Alessandro's, Marcus Harbaugh, and they play on, their music floating throughout the restaurant galleria, up the stairs of the loft and around the art-filled room.

For Hughes, performing is a job and he still has work to do. Just because he left medicine and decided to follow a second passion does not mean he's free from bills.

"This is for real. It's a real job," the 61-year-old said. "It's possible to a make a living in Salem; it's not easy, but I don't think it's any different than any other place."

Even if he had to work more to make a living, he probably would never leave. Salem is his ideal city. "It's always been the perfect place; it's a great place to live."

And if you're Bill Hughes, it's a great place to play.

For booking information, call (503) 363-8737 or e-mail williamhughes@comcast.net.