Claude Williamson

Claude Williamson Berkeley (* 18th November 1926 in Brattleboro , Vermont ; † 16th July 2016 ) was an American jazz pianist of swing and modern jazz .

Live and act

Williamson played the piano at the age of seven and attended the New England Conservatory in Boston for three years , became a professional musician with Charlie Barnet in 1947 and later played with Tom Talbert , Red Norvo 1948, Barnet 1949, June Christy 1950-51, in Bud Shanks Quartet and with his own Trio. In the spring of 1958 he visited Europe with Shank and Bob Cooper . His playing, which is strongly based on Bud Powell , has appeared on recordings with Barnet ( Claude Reigns ; 1949), Bob Cooper, Tal Farlow , Barney Kessel , the Howard Rumsey Lighthouse All Stars , Art Pepper , Bud Shank, Stu Williamson and others. a. to listen.

In 1968 Williamson worked for the NBC radio station , where he played for Andy Williams and Sonny & Cher, among others . In 1978 he returned to jazz and recorded several albums on Japanese labels with bassist Sam Brown and drummer Roy Haynes .

Claude Williamson was the older brother of Stu Williamson (1933-1991).

Discographic notes

• The Claude Williamson Trio ( Fresh Sound Records , 1956) with Don Prell , Red Mitchell , Chuck Flores , Mel Lewis
• Mulls the Mulligan Scene (Fresh Sound, 1958) with Howard Roberts , Red Mitchell, Stan Levey
• Hallucinations (VSOP, 1995) with Dave Carpenter, Paul Kreibich

Lexical entry

• Martin Kunzler : Jazz-Lexikon , Reinbek, Rowohlt, 1988.
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette . 2nd Edition. Penguin, London 1994, ISBN 0-14-017949-6 .
• Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD. 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary by Marc Myers in Jazzwax (2016)