Griff Williams

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Griff Williams (born 1911 in La Grande , Oregon , † February 1959 in Chicago ) was an American pianist and big band leader in the field of popular music .

Griff Williams was a pianist who led his own band in college when he was studying at Stanford University in California . In 1932 he became a member of the Anson Weeks Orchestra ; just a few months later in 1933 he formed his own band in San Francisco ; The band singer was the later band leader Buddy Moreno . Like Anson Weeks' orchestra, the Griff Williams Orchestra was considered a “society band” of the city that played for dinner and dance.

In October 1933, Williams had his first major engagement in Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel . At the end of the decade, Williams finally moved to Chicago; During the Second World War, his band performed at the Stevens Hotel in Chicago for four years . The band made recordings for the Okeh , Varsity and Columbia labels ; The theme tune was "Dream Music".

After the war, Williams worked in Chicago and San Francisco. In 1953, when the big band era came to an end, Griff Williams disbanded the orchestra. He then worked for a magazine publisher in Chicago and only occasionally put together ensembles for dance events, but remained so popular in Chicago that he had a show on a local TV station in 1956. He died of a heart attack in February 1959 .

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personal data
SURNAME Williams, handle
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and big band leader
DATE OF BIRTH 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH La Grande
DATE OF DEATH February 1959
Place of death Chicago