James Williams (musician)

James Williams (born March 8, 1951 , Memphis , Tennessee , † July 20, 2004 in Manhattan , New York City ) was an American jazz pianist, composer and arranger, music teacher and producer. As a pianist, he had a light sound, clear rhythmic structure and flexible harmony.

Life

At the age of thirteen, James Williams was interested in soul and gospel music when he started playing the piano and played the organ in a Baptist church. He studied music theory at Memphis State University , met Mulgrew Miller , who had played in the same church in Memphis as him, and Donald Brown , whom he persuaded to turn to the piano, and played there with George Coleman , Thad Jones and Richard Davis . Like Harold Mabern , he was an admirer of Phineas Newborn . From 1972 to 1977 he taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston and played with Woody Shaw , Joe Henderson and Art Farmer . At the age of 26 he had played with Milt Jackson , Sonny Stitt and Louis Hayes .

From 1977 he played for four years and ten records as a pianist in Art Blakeys legendary band Jazz Messengers with soloists such as Wynton Marsalis and Bobby Watson , Billy Pierce , Charles Fambrough and contributed his own compositions. In 1984 he moved to Brooklyn , where he worked as a band leader ( contemporary piano ensemble ) and producer. There he played with Bobby Hutcherson and Buddy Tate, among others . Since 1999 he has headed the Jazz Studies department at William Paterson University in Wayne , New Jersey ( replacing Rufus Reid ). With his own band, Intensive Care Unit , Williams made direct reference to the gospel politics of Aretha Franklin and Curtis Mayfield and the soul groove of former Blakey pianist Bobby Timmons . He enjoyed taking on challenges as a pianist and producer of albums and events. He played solo records with the renowned jazz musicians Art Blakey , Ray Brown and Elvin Jones and founded and produced the Contemporary Piano Ensemble and was looking for unusual line-ups. Williams died of liver cancer on July 20, 2004 at the age of 53 after a long hospital stay in Manhattan.

Recordings are rather sparse in Europe and have been released under Art Farmer , Bill Easley, Billy Pierce , Curtis Fuller , Emily Remler , Frank Gordon , Greg Abate , Marvin "Smitty" Smith , Ricky Woodard , Tom Harrell and the Memphis Convention.

His music

His solo playing sounds like a small to medium-sized jazz line-up, regardless of harmony, rhythm and soloism. With Blakeys Messengers, he maintains an organized structure that is not subordinate to the group sound, but focuses on the soloist and his development opportunities. When he explains that making music with Blakey is "like a university itself," he appears to be the Messengers' pianist that Blakey's Messengers go to school with.

He also worked on the recognition and further development of gospel music.

Discography

• With Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers, on the labels Blue Note, Concord, Timeless, Philips
• Up to the Minute Blues , DIW, 1991, sextet with Joe Henderson .
• Meet the Magical Trio , Emarcy, 1989, Trio with Charnett Moffet and Jeff Watts.
• The Magical Trio 1 , Emarcy, 1987, with Ray Brown and Art Blakey
• The Magical Trio 2 , Emarcy, with Ray Brown and Elvin Jones.
• Truth, Justice & Blues , Intensive Care Unit Evidence Music
• We've Got What You Need , Intensive Care Unit, Evidence Music
  • the last two with various singers and instrumentalists.

swell

1. ↑ Liner Notes from Blakey's Theme, West Wind 2045
2. ↑ all about jazz obituary ( memento of the original from June 29, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Obituary at Jazzhouse
• Obituary at Jazz Police
• Portrait in Jazztimes 2002
• Obituary, The Independent, July 22, 2004