Pianist James Williams dies at 53

[B. Goren.]

James Williams

(Filed: 29/07/2004)

James Williams, who has died aged 53, was a jazz pianist and composer who was best-known for his association with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with whom he recorded 10 albums.

James Williams was born on March 8 1951 in Memphis and began playing the piano at the age of 13. At first, his musical influences were from gospel and soul music rather than jazz; Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder were early favourites.

He became the organist at Eastern Star Baptist Church in Memphis, and attended Memphis State University, where he completed a degree in Music Education and first became interested in jazz. While at university, Williams became friendly with the pianists Mulgrew Miller and Donald Brown and began to play gigs with established jazz figures such as the bassist Jamil Nasser and the saxophonists George Coleman and Frank Strozier.

In 1974, Williams took a teaching post at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and a year later also began to gig, mainly with the drummer Alan Dawson, though he also provided support for musicians such as Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Milt Jackson, and Red Norvo.

By this stage, Williams was held in high regard as an accompanist, and he was a familiar sight in jazz clubs - as a thoughtful listener when not himself on the bandstand. In 1977, he gave up his position at Berklee to become a full-time performer, recording his first album and playing the first concert devoted to his own compositions. It was also the year that he met Art Blakey, and he quickly became part of a line-up which included Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Billy Pierce and Charles Fambrough, and which was almost constantly on the road for the next four years.

Williams's work with Blakey can be heard to best effect on the albums In My Prime (1978); In this Korner (1978); Live at Bubba's (1980) and Straight Ahead (1981). After leaving the band, James returned to Boston, and to Dawson, though he also accompanied visiting musicians, including the trumpeters Clark Terry and Chet Baker and the saxophonist Benny Carter.

In 1984, Williams moved to New York, where he established himself as as much of a fixture in its clubs as he had been in Boston's, and continued to play with many of jazz's leading figures. He released several albums as a bandleader, including The Arioso Touch (1982); Alter Ego (1984) and an eponymous album with his group Progress Report in 1985.

The following year the band played at the National Association of Jazz Educators conference, and Williams continued to teach, as well as becoming involved in music production. With a later band, Intensive Care Unit, he was artist-in-residence at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2000 and later that year, with the Magical Trio, released the album Awesome!

Williams was also director of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University at Wayne, New Jersey, and taught classes at many other institutions, including Harvard, McGill and the Royal Academy of Music. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in April and died on July 20.

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[Dan Gould]

Sad news, and the obit is a bit more complete than most, but there was a thread about this when it happened.

[B. Goren.]

Sorry Dan, I didnt know.

[Dan Gould]

That's OK, usually I let these things go.

But I'm trying to get my post count up without resorting to girlie pics.

[Bright Moments]

That's OK, usually I let these things go.

But I'm trying to get my post count up without resorting to girlie pics.

[John Tapscott]

Thanks for posting this. I was on vacation and missed the earlier thread. Sad news. I like Williams and really enjoy the 4 or 5 CD's of his that I own. In fact, I had one with me on vacation which I listened to - "Talkin' Trash" with Clark Terry. That's a good one. I had no idea he was ill.

[B. Goren.]

But I'm trying to get my post count up without resorting to girlie pics. 

girlie pics??? What you are talking about???

[DrJ]

Well I missed this the first time around, so thanks for posting it B. Goren.

Damn, what a huge loss. I really think Williams was a vastly underrated pianist and musician. He features heavily on one of my favorite jazz recordings of all time, Art Farmer's BLAME IT ON MY YOUTH, and some other great ones in my collection too (e.g. Jack Walrath's NEOHIPPUS). I loved his voicings, and I loved that "rolling" feeling he got whether comping or soloing at certain tempos (e.g. "Fairy Tale Countryside" on BLAME IT ON MY YOUTH), totally different than the "crest and wave" sound of McCoy Tyner, more of a gliding thing. His leader date PROGRESS REPORT (Sunnyside) is the only one I have, and while it's damn solid I think I prefer his work with others based on what I've heard so far.

A huge loss, especially given his relative youth. Sad news.

[Dan Gould]

Tony, you might want to track down the Magical Trio dates, with Ray Brown and either Elvin or Blakey behind the kit.