Although less well-known than his Magical Trio partners Art Blakey, Ray Brown, and Elvin Jones, pianist James Williams similarly leaves a legacy of outstanding musicianship and scholarship. Yet, unlike his legendary cohorts, Williams did not have the opportunity to wow audiences, teach, or record well into his 70s. At age 53, James Williams succumbed to liver cancer on July 20, 2004. Respected for his talents as a composer, educator, and producer as well as pianist, Williams may be best known for his stint with the Jazz Messengers and his leadership of the Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, a four-piano tribute to Phineas Newborn.

Williams was born in Memphis and grew up listening to Ray Charles, Booker T., Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, King Curtis, and Ramsey Lewis. His formal piano training began when he was 13, and soon he was serving as a church organist in Memphis. At Memphis State University, he seriously turned to jazz, influenced by Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Ahmad Jamal, and particularly local legend Phineas Newborn, and where he connected with fellow pianists Mulgrew Miller and Donald Brown. After receiving a degree in music education, Williams taught at Berklee College of Music in Boston for five years, where he worked with Woody Shaw, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Joe Henderson, and fellow Berklee faculty Alan Dawson. Joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1977, Williams appeared on ten recordings while holding down the piano chair for the following four years.

On his own, back in Boston, Williams gigged with such artists as Thad Jones, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Benny Carter, and Alan Dawson before moving to New York in 1984. Frequenting the clubs as an avid listener as well as performer, Williams worked with many jazz all-stars, including Dizzy Gillespie, George Duvivier, Art Farmer, Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, and Tony Williams. He also toured and recorded with his own bands, in many formats, including the traditional piano-bass-drum trio; larger ensembles with several horns; a jazz trio with the Boys Choir of Harlem and guest Dianne Reeves; and solo recitals. His instrumental/vocal group, James Williams & the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), featured saxophonists Billy Pierce, Steve Wilson, and Javon Jackson; bassists John Lockwood and Christian McBride; and drummers Tony Reedus and Yoron Israel. His first Magical Trio in the late 1980s with Ray Brown and Art Blakey was followed by Magical Trio 2, with Elvin Jones on drums, and finally Trio 3 with Charnett Moffett and Jeff “Tain” Watts filling the bass and drum chairs.

Interested in preserving and promoting the music of Phineas Newborn, Williams founded the Contemporary Piano Ensemble in the late 1980s to showcase the swinging joyful sounds of this forgotten artist. The CPE featured five pianists rotating in a 4-piano format with bass and drums, starring Williams, Harold Mabern, Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown, and Geoff Keezer. More recent projects featured combinations of the best of mainstream talents. With Cyrus Chestnut and Bill Charlap, he appeared at Birdland in February 2004 as part of a three-piano extravaganza.

In addition to composing, directing jazz studies at William Paterson College in New Jersey, and serving on the faculty of many music schools and colleges throughout his career, James Williams produced hundreds of concerts, tributes, and events through his company, Finas Sounds. He also produced a number of recordings that have helped promote the careers of his mentor, Harold Mabern, and then-newcomer Geoff Keezer, among others.

As a performer, Williams was best known for his own swinging style that combined soulful gospel influences (particularly Newborn) with the sound of modern jazz, “display[ing] a deep understanding of the jazz piano tradition as he plays with the grace of Red Garland and the rhythmic intensity of Ahmad Jamal” (Bill Kohlhaase, Los Angeles Times). He may be best remembered for his ongoing efforts to preserve interest in the standard repertoire and to bring together high profile artists who seldom join forces. One such project resulted in the 1992 DIW recording, James Williams Meets the Saxophone Masters (Joe Henderson, George Coleman, and Billy Pierce). “I wanted to create something for people to listen to in their living rooms the way people listened to bands at Birdland in 1963…Being separate talents is good, but it’s also good to have some family reunions, to get back in touch with things.”

We’ll miss those family reunions.

More about James Williams is available at: http://jameswilliamspiano.com