Joe Williams

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Joe Williams

Joe Williams , actually Joseph Goreed (* 12. December 1918 in Cordele , Georgia , † 29. March 1999 in Las Vegas ) was an American jazz - singer who especially for his performances with the Count Basie known band.

Williams came to Chicago as a child , where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. In his youth he performed in the churches of South Side Chicago as a member of the Jubilee Boys vocal group . In the late 1930s he worked as a bouncer and singer in clubs and recorded some 78s with Chicago rhythm and blues orchestras. In 1943 he was hired by Lionel Hampton as a singer, with whose orchestra he toured for several years. He made his breakthrough and actual artistic development as a blues singer as the singer of the Count Basie Orchestra , where he succeeded the legendary band singers Jimmy Rushing and Maxine Sullivan and where his qualities as a shouter are used effectively in blues numbers. From 1954 onwards, Basie and Williams had hits with pieces like Everyday I Have the Blues and Al right, Ok, You Win . The Verve album Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings from 1956 was particularly successful . At the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 he performed with the Basie Band, which Lester Young also made a guest appearance with. At that time a long collaboration with Verve began , around 1959 several albums with string arrangements for Roulette Records ( Joe Williams Sings About You ) and for RCA-Victor ( Jump for Joy , 1963). Even after the Basie period he successfully continued his career with his own band, but later returned to Basie more often. In 1966 he also recorded with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Big Band (formed the same year) of longtime Basie cornetist and arranger Thad Jones.

In the 1980s he was cast as his father-in-law " Grandpa Al Hanks" by Bill Cosby on his show .

Discography (selection)

Verve Records

  • 1956 Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings
  • 1957 One o'Clock Jump
  • 1958 A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry
  • 1963 Jump for Joy
  • 1964 Me and the Blues
  • 1966 Presenting Joe Williams and the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
  • 1973 Joe Williams Live
  • 1985 I Just Want to Sing with Thad Jones , Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Benny Golson , Norman Simmons , John Heard ,
  • 1993 Live at Orchestra Hall, Detroit
  • 1993 Every Day: The Best of the Verve Years
  • 1997 The Best of Joe Williams: The Roulette, Solid State & Blue Note Years
  • 1998 One for My Baby
  • 1999 Ultimate Joe Williams
  • 2001 The Heart and Soul of Joe Williams and George Shearing
  • 2002 The Definitive Joe Williams
  • 2004 In Good Company (with Shirley Horn, among others )
  • 2006 Music For Lovers

Delos Records

  • 1984 Nothin 'but the Blues

literature

  • Will Friedwald : Swinging Voices of America - A Compendium of Great Voices . Hannibal, St. Andrä-WIERT, 1992. ISBN 3-85445-075-3
  • Leslie Gourse: The story of Joe Williams , Quartet Books 1985

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Williams, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Goreed, Joseph (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Cordele , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 1999
Place of death Las Vegas