L-R:  Marta Bonet, Colibrí; Bill Tilford; Mario Escalona Serrano, EGREM;
Gloria Ochoa Zabalegui, ICM; Dagma Francia Pérez, Bis Music

Bill, who was based in Chicago for over four decades and is now in the wilds of Indiana, fell in love with la música cubana during his early childhood, and his interests range from the beginning to now including nearly all of the genres.  He contributes to multiple sections of the website including Sin Clave No Hay Na and has been publishing a series of articles about the evolution of the recording industry in Cuba.  He has presented at the CIDMUC symposium in Havana and has been acknowleged as an authority on Cuban music in the Cuban press and radio.  
A lower brass musician and keyboardist by training, he has occasionally been seen and heard lurking behind various musical instruments in the past, but does not perform regularly today. He also writes liner notes and is involved in the production area (including as one of the Executive Producers of Conga Buena by the AC Jazz Project, which was released in 2013) and unveiled his full first album as a Producer (he also wrote the liner notes), Pure Mezcla by Pablo Menéndez and Mezcla,  which was released on Latin Pulse Music on February 15, 2015. 
He also writes liner notes, relevant credits for Cuban music fans include Heritage (2012) by Angel d'Cuba, Expectativas by Manuel Valera (Mavo Records 2013), Escape (a 2015 Cubadisco winner for Best New Artist and Recording, EGREM) by Alberto Lescay and Formas, Bendita Guanabacoa (a 2019 Cubadisco nominee, EGREM), Vivencias en clave cubana by Kiki Valera (Origin Records.2019) and Se llama sabroso by Zona Franka (Ocho Productions 2021), which includes a guest appearance by Omara Portuondo.  His most recent liner notes can be found in Vacilón Santiaguero, a 2024 release by Kiki Valera which is a 2025 GRAMMY® nominee (Best Tropical Latin) as of November 2024.

Since February 2016, he has been the producer and  host of From the Isle of Music which has a global audience.  As of April 2024, it will be on Channel 292, an international broadcast shortwave radio station, at various times and frequencies. 
Over 150 guests (musicians and other professionals in Cuba's music industry) have appeared on the program to date.  


Bill has a second program on shortwave, Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, which is a potpourri of World Music, Comedy, Folklorica and Novelty songs,  This program also has occasional guests from around the world.  As of April 2024, this was also be on Radio Channel 292 from Germany. 
Bill is a voting member of NARAS and LARAS.
He is a voting member of the Jazz Education Network and the Jazz Journalists Association.  He has published dozens of album reviews and does a monthly article in the NASWA Journal,  "Shortwave Program Spotlight". 

He also gave a presentation about Cuban music and the United States at Cubadisco 2014 and about Cuban Music and the GRAMMY® awards at Cubadisco 2015.  He occasionally contributes to other publications and has been a guest on other radio programs in the United States, Colombia, Cuba and LRA 36 in Argentina. 

The website for his production company, Tilford Productions LLC, is tilfordproductions.com