John Williams (band leader)

John Charles Williams (born February 8, 1941 in Hammersmith , London ) is a British jazz musician ( saxophone , clarinet , composition ) who has emerged as a big band leader.

Act

Williams attended Acton Technical College . From 1962 to 1964 he led the Resident Big Band at the Marquee Club in London . Between 1966 and 1968 he was musical director of the commercial television program Harlech Television ; In 1969 he led the Eloise Sound Orchestra , which accompanied Paul and Barry Ryan on a European tour. In the 1970s he was the artistic director of musicians as diverse as OC Smith , Gladys Knight , Brenda Lee , Keith Emerson and The Three Degrees . As a baritone saxophonist he was also involved in Keith Tippett's Centipede ( Septober Energy ) and in projects by Barry Guy , Norma Winstone , Mike Westbrook , Graham Collier and Don Rendell ( Earthmusic ). Alan Cohen also brought him into the all-star band, with whom he made the first complete recording of Duke Ellington's famous suite Black, Brown and Beige in 1972 for the Decca label.

With Williams' 12-member jazz / classical ensemble New Perspectives , jazz songs based on poems by AE Housman were created ; the album Five Housman Settings and Other Jazz Works with the soloist Jacqui Dankworth was for the Sunday Times "the outstanding British jazz release of 1996". In 1999 the jazz and poetry project Presences of Jazz followed in collaboration with the poet Roger Garfitt . In 2000 a recording by Williams' Baritone Band (Spotlite) was released, in which other baritone saxophonists such as John Surman , Chris Biscoe , Alan Barnes , Andy Panayi or Alan Wakeman were involved. William also recorded Tenorama (2003) for Spotlite .

In 2004 Serenata commissioned Williams to write the music for From Dunkirk to 'D' Day , which premiered at the 2004 Bromsgrove Festival. In 2006 he performed Dick Walter's Excursions for Baritone Saxophone & String Quartet as a soloist with the Bingham String Quartet , which received a five-star review in the Birmingham Post . He also recorded with the Banda D'Improvisadors de Barcelona .

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Andy Gregory (Ed.): The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. 4th edition. Europa Publications, London 2002, ISBN 1-85743-161-8 , p. 545.

personal data
SURNAME	Williams, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Williams, John Charles (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British jazz musician (saxophone, clarinet, composition) and big band leader
DATE OF BIRTH	February 8, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hammersmith , London

[1] Andy Gregory (Ed.): The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. 4th edition. Europa Publications, London 2002, ISBN 1-85743-161-8 , p. 545.