Joe Gill is the director of the Beginning, Sixth-Grade and Paris High School Bands for the Paris District 95 Schools.  He has been teaching in the Paris schools since 1974.  Mr. Gill is a graduate of Millikin University where he was a member of the Jazz Lab Band under the direction of the late Roger Schueler.  As lead trombonist, he had the opportunity to perform with Clark Terry, Bill Holman, Don Menza, Allyn Furgeson, Gerald Wilson, Louis Bellson and others, as well as travel with the ensemble on two extended overseas tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department.  His Paris school district duties include directing the Paris High School Instrumental Music Program, coordinating and teaching the beginning band program for the district and directing the Sixth-Grade Band at Mayo Middle School.  Mr. Gill has been the director of the Paris High School Jazz Band since 1974 and is currently serving as the district's Fine Arts Department Chair.  Additionally, Mr. Gill has performed with the Decatur Big Band and the Paris Big Band and maintains a membership in the Music Educators National Conference and the International Association for Jazz Education.  Before moving to Paris Mr. Gill worked as an assistant instructor in the Preparatory Music Department at Millikin and was the director of the Lakeview High School Band in Decatur, Illinois.  He resides in Paris, Illinois with his wife Evie, also a Millikin University School of Music graduate, who teaches piano and flute in her home studio.