Valdo Williams

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Valdo Williams (born 1929 in Canada ; † 2010 ) was an American jazz pianist . One of his role models was Thelonious Monk .

Live and act

Williams' father was a surgeon with two pianos in his New York home. In his youth, Williams played there with friends Herbie Nichols and Randy Weston . As early as 1948 in New York he is said to have made his first attempts with free forms of playing in the jazz idiom. During this time Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean became aware of his improvisations .

In the early 1950s, Williams lived in Montreal , where he performed with bassist Bob Rudd. In the course of his career only a few recordings were made; In February 1953 he appeared with Charlie Parker , Dick Garcia and Hal Gaylor on the television show Jazz Workshop on the Canadian broadcaster CBC-TV. Williams played and arranged music by Charlie Parker or those related to him during this time. In January 1957 he was a member of David Amram's trio with Dennis Charles , who played in Five Spot and was expanded to include John Ore for a month ; Sometimes bass player Ahmed Abdul-Malik also played . Lester Young , who appeared with Williams in the Five Spot over a longer period of time in 1958 , encouraged the pianist to undertake his solo explorations: "Don't give up. Don't never give up."

Recordings with Williams as accompanist were made in March 1963 with Hal Singer and Dick Vance . In August 1964 Williams appeared several times in the Cellar Coffee with his trio and Bill Dixon and in a New York coffee shop with Alan Silva and drummer Gerald Splivvy McKeever on; once rose Albert Ayler one. On October 4th, 1964, he played with his trio in one of the concerts of the October Revolution in Jazz . In 1965 he worked as a musician in a play about a jazz musician based on a book by Robert Reisner . Drummer Barry Altschul first played (1963) in Williams' band.

Williams recorded four free jazz- influenced compositions for the Savoy Records label under his own name in December 1966 . His teammates on the album New Advanced Jazz were bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Stu Martin . In February 1967 the Down Beat announced a concert by Williams' New Advanced Jazz Trio ; then his track is lost. In the field of jazz, Williams participated in six recording sessions between 1953 and 1966.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical information at Evi.com
  2. ↑ David Amram: Vibrations: The Adventures and Musical Times of David Amram . Greenwood Press, 1980, p. 226
  3. ^ Information in Village Voice
  4. ^ Chrissie Murray: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz , Salamander, 1986, p. 189
  5. ^ Black Music & Jazz Review, Volume 1, Issues 10-12. IPC Specialist & Professional Press, 197, p. 14
  6. ↑ Ben Sidran : Talking Jazz: An Illustrated Oral History . Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992. In the original: And there was a guy named Valdo Williams that was playing like Cecil was playing, but he was doing it back in 1948. 1 don't know where Valdo is today.
  7. ↑ Kevin Whitehead : New Dutch Swing . Billboard Books, 1998.
  8. ↑ Mark Miller: Cool blues: Charlie Parker in Canada, 1953 . Nightwood Editions, 1990, p. 45
  9. ↑ Mark Miller: Cool Blues: Charlie Parker in Canada, 1953 . Nightwood Editions, 1989, p. 33.
  10. ↑ The Dial Recordings of Charlie Parker: A> Discography , edited by Edward M. Komara, p. 166 and Walter Bruyninckx: Modern Jazz, Be-bop, Hard Bop, West Coast, Volume 3 - 60 Years of Recorded Jazz Team , 1985, p. 973, cf. also discography (Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University)
  11. ↑ Broadcast Music, Inc: BMI: The Many Worlds of Music . Broadcast Music, Inc., 1965, p. 15
  12. ^ Robin Kelley: Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original , p. 228
  13. ^ Robin Kelley: Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original 2009, p. 236; The French art critic Michel Tapie was occasionally on bass; on this: David Acton, David Amram, David Lehman: The Stamp of Impulse: Abstract Expressionist Prints . Worcester Art Museum, 2001, p. 25.
  14. ↑ Luc Delannoy: Pres: The Story of Lester Young , p. 159
  15. ↑ Quoted from Douglas Henry Daniels Lester Leaps In: the Life and Times of Lester “Pres” Young Beacon Press 2002, p. 11, cf. also p. 385.
  16. ^ Hal Singer discography
  17. ↑ cf. Ben Young Dixonia: A Bio-discography of Bill Dixon Greenwood Publishing 1998, p. 343
  18. ↑ Interview with Alan Silva . Silva characterized Williams there as a "bar pianist".
  19. ↑ cf. Ben Young Dixonia: A Bio-discography of Bill Dixon Greenwood Publishing 1998, p. 347
  20. ^ Markland Taylor: The White Barn Theater: Lucille Lortel, founder, director . White Barn Theater, 1997, p. 1965
  21. ↑ See Jazz & Pop, Volumes 7-8 . Jazz Press, 1968, p. 64
  22. ^ Down Beat, Volume 34, Maher Publications, 1967, p. 12
  23. ↑ Tom Lord Jazz Discography
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Valdo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Canada
DATE OF DEATH 2010