Jazz Artists Who Have Nicknames

[EKE BBB]

LAKA DAISICAL

[EKE BBB]

CAB CALLOWAY

[EKE BBB]

COOTIE WILLIAMS

[EKE BBB]

ALCIDE YELLOW NUÑEZ

[EKE BBB]

GOD´S TROMBONES B) (Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Juan Tizol, and Lawrence Brown)

[EKE BBB]

BUDDY COLLETTE

[patricia]

WELCOME BACK, EKE BBB!!!!

Thank you so much for the, as usual, fabulous photos. I particularly want to thank you for the one of "SHAKE". When I was researching his career, I couldn't find any pictures of him. Handsome cat. Gorgeous hands!! Gone too soon.

Edited March 16, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

We now come to the career of the legendary drummer, "PHILLY" JO JONES.

Jo's nickname was given to him to distinguish him from the other, equally well-known drummer, Jo Jones who had come on the scene earlier.

Philly Jo was born in 1923, in, of course, Philidelphia.

He not only was the master of the kit, but also played piano and many other instruments as well.

He worked around his home town, before being given the opportunity to tour with Joe Morris, the trumpeter, who had an r&b group This band had among it's personel, Johnny Griffen and Elmo Hope.

Before moving to New York in 1949, Philly Jo played with Ben Webster. Upon arriving in New York, he freelanced with such greats as Zoot Sims, Lee Konitz, Tony Scott as well as with Tadd Dameron in the early fifties.

From 1952-1955 he worked in partnership with Miles Davis, who used Jones as a bolster when he travelled out of town and used various locally-based rhythm sections. Then, from 1955, Jones was with the regular Davis quintet/sextet.

Several records were made during Jones' time with Davis in the early sixties. He worked with Gil Evans' band in 1959 and was a member of Evans' trio in both 1967 and also in 1976.

Philly Jo moved to England in 1967 as well as living in France from the late sixties and early seventies.

Then he moved back to the U.S. for the rest of the seventies. He then led his own groups. The nine-piece band, Damerama was led by Philly Jo from 1981-1985 when he briefly replaced Kenny Clarke in Pieces Of Time, after Kenny died.

Philly Jo is probably best known for his work with the first classic Miles Davis quintet and he not only masterminded the rhythm-section, but his style during that period is the most imitated sounds heard in other drummer's work. Listen for the one-per-bar rim-shot on the title track of Davis' "Milestones", which is played with the heel of the drumstick.

Those who know me, know that I am particularly fond of brushes and Philly Jo was a master. But, he was at his best when using the sticks, perfectly complimenting the soloist, as in his work with strong soloists, such as John Coltrane.

If Philly Jo's style were to be catagorized, I would say that he combined the intelligence of Max Roach, with the sheer power of Art Blakey. He was not like any other drummer though, in that the details were peculiar to him.

I think that it's appropriate to quote Miles Davis on Philly Jo, who said, "I wouldn't care if he came up on the bandstand in his BVD's and with one arm, just so long as he was there. He's the fire I want".

I think Davis' endorsement says it all.

PHILLY JO JONES died in 1985 at fifty-eight years old.

............................................................................

** Just a footnote. Of course, Philly Jo was a huge influence on the drummers who followed him. Many, many drummers were inspired by his huge talent and his style. Some attempted the impossible task of reproducing his sound and some, more wisely, simply took what they had learned and applied it, to develop their own style. In a way, Philly Jo was a kind of mentor to them.

So, in that light, I would like to mention a collection that has given me great pleasure, "Danny D'Imperio's Blues For Philly Joe" [VSOP 1991] . This is, I think, by way of an homage to this great artist and the title is taken from one of the tracks on the CD.

The personel are:

Greg Gisbert on trumpet

Gary Pribek on alto

Ralph Lalama on tenor

Hod O'Brian on piano

Dave Shapiro on bass

Steve Brown on guitar on "Reets and I"

and

Dan D'Imperio on drums

Worthwhile to hear "Dr. Jekyll" in the surroundings in which he is most comfortable.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[EKE BBB]

PHILLY JOE JONES

[patricia]

PERFECT!!!! Thank you, EKE BBB.

[patricia]

From time to time, as I write these pieces, I have a curious feeling of deja vu. I guess it's because I remember doing the work for similar ones which I profiled on another, now defunct thread. Only the honourees are the same people. The original bios are gone.

..................................

Having said that, let's re-visit "WINGY" [Joseph Matthews] MANONE. Occasionally a nickname is a little macabre and this is one of those.

Wingy was born in New Orleans in 1900 and his nickname stems from his having a single arm, his left, due to a childhood streetcar tragedy. Nevertheless, he was a fine, fine trumpet player. He also sang.

Wingy was fast-talking, funny and very ambitious. During the 1920's and early 1930's he toured with Benny Goodman as well as Red Nichols, in addition to recording with them. Before that he had worked around the Southern states with Peck Kelly and with Doc Ross.

Wingy had also appeared in a revue in which he was billed as "The One-Armed Indian". His "handicap" certainly didn't cramp his musical style and he is often said to have played better, with one arm, than most trumpet-players could with the standard-issue two.

In 1934 Wingy was leading his own band, recording like crazy. Many remember his record, "Isle Of Capri" fondly, because he filled it with Italianate-style nonsense and it was a huge hit.

Wingy was so talented and so personable, that he was a headliner on 52nd Street as well as all over Chicago.

By 1940 Wingy had branched out into appearing in movies for RKO, notably, "Rhythm On The River", which starred Bing Crosby. Crosby kept Manone and is said to have considered him a kind of court jester, but in a good way.

Wingy was now living in Hollywood and was very satisfied with the direction his career had taken and with his success.

In 1948 he wrote his autobiography, "Trumpet On The Wing" and, as they say, "If you read one biography this year...............". This is one of the most informative and funny biographies I've ever read!

Wingy avoided changes in jazz fashion, instead led bands and continued to work with Crosby on radio shows.

But, Manone had always had an ambition to write a suite, based on his experiences in New Orleans. By the 1960's he had become a little morose, partly because of his ambition for the suite stalling and because he was worried about his son being drafted to Vietnam.

Of the jazz climate of the time he said, "You can't make it playing honest nowadays", when being interviewed for Down Beat in 1970. So sad, considering that he had often billed his shows, "Come in and hear the Truth"

Lucky for us, many of Manone's recordings from the 1930's have been re-released and are a much happier footnote.

To wind this up, I'd like to mention an odd little quirk that Wingy had. When he was describing the improvisation in performances in which he was participating, he would use terms more familiar to horserace aficianados.

In Anita O'Day's biography, [with George Eells, Limelight Editions, 1981] this is how it read:

"We're all lined up at the startin' gate. Now we're off. In the first couple of bars, right at the start Wingy's got the lead. I keep the lead for about twelve bars, then the tenor saxophone overtakes me for about six bars, then I go back into the lead again for the last eight bars. We go into another chorus where the trombone takes the lead. I'm behind all the time, on his tail all the time, and in the last chorus I get the lead but the damn piano takes me down and in the last eight bars of the tag, Wingy takes it over and the winner of the race is --- Wingy Manone!!!!!

WINGY MANONE died in July of 1982.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[EKE BBB]

WINGY MANONE

(second starting from right)

patricia: we´ve been doing the same at AAJ... starting all over again!!!

[patricia]

Ever seen "Groundhog Day"?? Surreal!!!

Wingy was of the most fun musicians to research. He was the sort of person that just made me smile. What a character!!!!

Edited March 16, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

OK. I've put it off long enough. I've mentioned the 1920's bandleader, in connection with several musicians' beginnings and I don't think [smack me on the side of the head if I'm mistaken] I've profiled the man himself.

The bandleader to which I refer is "PECK" [John Dixon]KELLEY.

Born in Houston Texas in 1898, he led Peck's Bad Boys around Texas in the early 1920's

This band was mostly known because it was the starting point for such mega-jazzers as Jack Teagarden, Pee Wee Russell and trumpeter Leon Prima.

Peck himself was a kind, shy man, who took care of his musicians. He played a very fine piano and his band was the resident at Sylva Beach on Galveston Bay.

He was persuaded, in 1924, to join Russell, Bix Beiderbecke and Frank Trumbauer, playing the Arcadia Ballroom in St Louis.

But, there were union problems and Peck couldn't get a work permit.

This devastated him and Pee Wee said of this incident, "Peck went home more convinced than ever that it was a mistake to leave home".

So, from that point on, Peck turned down opportunities to work with Paul Whiteman, the Dorseys, Rudy Vallee and Bob and Bing Crosby. He also refused to record.

Though his own career seemed to be in the doldrums, there was a song, "Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar" which is said to have been written about him during the boogie craze. There was also a feature written about him in Collier's Magazine.

Despite the continued public facination with him, Peck stayed home, stubbornly refusing to be lured back into the jazz circuit. That is not to say that he was no longer involved with music. He did play in locally-based groups, and one of his last groups was a Shearing-style quintet, which played Houston's Dixie Bar in 1949.

Right after that, Peck retired.

Years later, Peck was interviewed for Down Beat, by Richard Hadlock. The meeting as described by Hadlock was so sad. Apparantly Peck was, by then, grey and very nearly blind. He was living in a dim, dusty house, with no working piano. Hadlock quoted him as saying, "I guess people think it's strange I didn't go with the big names in the 1930's. Maybe the real reason was I never felt the need to entertain people. I like to play for myself". So, so sad.

Unfortunately, PECK KELLEY, who had been the first bandleader to give many of the jazzers from Texas, who later became huge stars, their first break, went blind, contracted Parkinson's disease and died in December of 1980, at eighty-two years old.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

And we have now, yet another "Buddy", but this time from Europe.

He is "BUDDY" [Rupert Edward] FEATHERSTONEHAUGH.

Featherstonehaugh was born in 1909 in Paris. He first came to notice in Spike Hughes' British orchestra in 1930 and stayed with that organization until 1932.

He played clarinet, as well as tenor and baritone saxophones.

In his last year with Hughes, he toured with Louis Armstrong in Britain.

Three years later, in 1935, he recorded on Decca with his own band. His band was called The Cosmopolitans and it included Harry Hayes and Alan Ferguson.

Buddy also recorded for Benny Carter in Britain in 1936 and 1937.

During the war, Buddy joined the RAF and led a group which had among it's personel, trombonist, Don McCaffer, who took over a half-hour radio program on BBC, Radio Rhythm Club.

The Cosmopolitans recorded prolifically for HMV during the war, but after the war they slipped into near-obscurity.

But then, Featherstonehaugh came back to the public's attentin in 1956, on baritone sax. He recorded eight bop recordings, which also featured a very young Kenny Wheeler and Bobby Wellins.

By the 1960's, however, Buddy had retired.

In July of 1976, BUDDY FEATHERSTONEHAUGH died, at sixty-seven years old.

Edited March 16, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

And now we whisk back to the U.S. to talk about the fabulous trumpet-player, [Harry] "SWEETS" EDISON.

Edison was born in Columbus Ohio in 1915. He was half Native-American, as was Lee Wiley and also Jack Teagarden.

Sweets fell under the spell of Louis Armstrong, having heard him play on Bessie Smith's records. The spell was set when he saw Armstrong play live with Benny Moten at Valley Dale dance hall.

His career began with territory bands, among them, Jeter Pillars, Earl Hood and Morrison's Grenediers.

Sweets then moved to New York, where after about six months with Lucky Millinder, he went with Count Basie in 1938.

He stayed with Basie until 1950, and left when the band broke up. There Edison was, without work and without what, to him, was a father-figure in Basie.

He had a wife and a family to support, so he joined Norman Granz' Jazz At The Philharmonic. At the time Edison was with JATP, the legendary Josephine Baker was among the performers and he her musical director.

By 1952, Sweets was doing studio work and had begun a regular association with Frank Sinatra and other singers. He worked with Buddy Hackett and was known as a master accompanist.

In the 1960's, he hadn't slowed down and continued with very heavy studio committments, as well as appearing regularly at various festivals, JATP and with Count Basie as a guest soloist. He was also seen on TV's Hollywood Palace.

In the 1970's Edison was still goin', making tours with "Lockjaw" Davis and with Benny Carter. He was also teaching at Yale for the Duke Ellington Fellowship.

Even in the 1990's Sweets was still a force and was appearing at concerts, sometimes with Lionel Hampton, at festivals and he was playing beautifully, if a little less aggressively.

Harry "Sweets" Edison was described as a natural player, much like Armstrong and his was one of the most distinctive voices in jazz. As all great players' styles do, his style evolved over time, going from a blustery-wild young style, to a more elegant and controlled perfection in his later years. He was capable of stretching out in extensive solos, without losing any of his performance power or his creative steam.

Having made a huge contribution to jazz, HARRY SWEETS EDISON died in July of 1999, at seventy-six years old.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

In January in 1949, the drummer, BOBBY WORTH [Robert Dodsworth] was born in London, England.

Worth became interested in drums early, having heard the work of Mel Lewis and Morello.

When he was sixteen years old, he was a founder member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He then played resident for Bert Rhodes at Talk Of The Town in London.

By 1982 he was freelancing and worked in a variety of contexts with the very best of British players, such as Pete King, Jim Mullen and Don Weller.

Bobby has also played with visiting Americans like Bob Wilber, Buddy Tate, Kenny Davern, Charlie Byrd and Scott Hamilton.

Earlier, we talked about the singer/pianist, Buddy Greco. Well, Worth also worked for him, as a drummer and musical director.

I was interested that he worked in theatre shows, including Sugar Babies, with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller.

Bobby Worth plays regularly at Ronnie Scott's Pizza Express and 606 Club. Not only that, but he has worked all over Britain, including Lady Sings The Blues, as well as with Alex Welsh Reunion Band.

BOBBY WORTH was the winner of the British Telecom award for Drummer Of The Year in 1998.

There is a CD available, made in 1992, for Calligraph with Humphrey Littleton and Acker Bilk. This is a perfect setting for Bobby to demonstrate his tight-swinging style and this collection is in a relaxed quintet setting which co-fetured Dave Green and Dave Cliff. Worthwhile.

[patricia]

And now we have "BIG" JOE TURNER, who was born in Kansas City, Missuri in 1911.

For some reason, I connect Turner's voice with another singer, "Big" Miller, [profiled earlier], who also had a gorgeous, smooth delivery. Both artists got their nicknames because of their generously proportioned shadows.

Big Joe Turner was singing, professionally, by the time he was fourteen years old, at the Kingfisher Club in Kansas City. He worked behind the bar.

While working at the club, Joe met pianist, Pete Johnson. Johnson, recognizing Turner's exceptional talent, teamed up with him and they worked together throughout the 1940's, usually up and down the West Coast.

Turner and Johnson's joint venture, Blue Room, in Los Angeles opened in 1945.

Way, way ahead of his time, Turner's style of singing was raw and sexually direct. He is acknowledged as one of the very first of the rock and roll artists, many of whom became huge stars in a genre which later became a phenomenom.

But, Turner hit many roadblocks on his career path in that the music czars of the time thought his approach too black and much too forceful for the white audiences which they were targetting.

Despite hit records for Atlantic, such as "Chains Of Love" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll" his progress with the huge rock trend was not as successful as it, in retrospect, should have been.

Perhaps the reason was simpler, as related by Nick Kimberly,

"Imagine Joe, six feet two and weighing 250 pounds, belting out 'Trendsetter' at 46."

He just didn't fit the picture the promoters of his records had of who their audience was. He was too old. There are also those who say his regularly identifying himself with his jazz roots was not a wise move for a pop star.

If you listen to Turner's album, "Boss Of The Blues", which featured Pete Brown, Lawrence Brown and Pete Johnson, there is definitely a jazz, rather than a pop flavour to the collection.

In any case, he moved back to New Orleans in the sixties. He did make a trip to Britain in 1965 and toured with Humphrey Lyttleton. Lyttleton's portrait of Turner, in his book, "Take It From The Top" was an affectionate one. He recounted Turner's preference for the key of "C", as well as stories about Turner's puzzling liability to set fire to hotel rooms.

By the time the 1970's rolled in, Joe was singing at festivals and had signed a contract with the label owned by Norman Granz, Pablo. This was a huge boost to Turner, because he recorded in almost every context, from jazz bands, all the way to down-home and r&b bands.

In 1981, he was in hospital with pneumonia and blood clots, but a year later, Joe was back, playing Tramp's Room in New York.

Lee Jeske said of Turner's voice, during that period, that he was singing "in a voice so rich and clear and strong, the walls shake, the plates rattle and the tables roll".

Big Joe Turner performed right up to the end of his life, appearing often with his kindred spirit, Jimmy Witherspoon.

There's a collection of Turner's work called "Joe Turner's Blues" [1938-1946 Topaz]. This is a wonderful album and includes Pete Johnson's Boogie Woogie Boys, Benny Carter, Willie "The Lion" Smith and Bill Moore. It has six titles from two sessions with Art Tatum, which were recorded n 1941. If you want to experience the magic of Big Joe Turner, go and find this album, immediatly!!

BIG JOE TURNER, after a career of great distinction, died in November, 1985, at seventy-four years old.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

"MOE" [Elmer Reuben] SCHNEIDER , who plays trombone, was born in Bessie, Oklahoma in 1919.

Moe worked with a series of what were described as "Dixieland academies", one of which was Ben Pollack's band, both before and after the war.

After the war, he was with Bob Crosby from 1949.

Moe's style has been described as merging the tone of Jack Teagarden with the almost athletic and rangy approach of Abe Lincoln.

Some of his best work is on the recorded music from the radio series, TV show and the later feature film, "Pete Kelly's Blues". On that set of classics, he played with Dick Cathcart and Matty Matlock. These recordings are good examples of what is known as "white jazz". They were jazz, without ever sounding too precise, but IMO, excellent, nonetheless.

Later on, in the fifties, Schneider combined music with his day job as an accountant. He did studio work and also appeared in "The Five Pennies" and "The Gene Krupa Story" in 1959.

Moe's work is described by many as a collector's delight and his skill is of the highest jazz standard. I urge you to find the recordings of the music from "Pete Kelly's Blues". You'll be glad you did.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

And now, let's talk about "TITO" [Ernestito Antonio] PUENTE. Tito was born in 1920 in New York. He was a percussionist, played piano and was also an arranger.

His parents were Puerto Rican and originally, Tito hoped to become a dancer.

Unfortunately, that dream died when he became injured and was unable to dance well enough to continue.

During WW2, while in the Navy, Tito became interested in big band music. After the war he studied briefly at Julliard.

From 1945-1947 he played with Noro Morales and Machito.

After his experience with those groups, Tito formed his own band, called The Piccadilly Boys. That band was the very popular resident at the Palladium in New York in the fifties, along with Machito and also the Tito Rodriguez groups.

Tito Puente is the one who brought the mambo and the cha-cha to huge artistic heights during that period. It seemed as though everyone was hypnotized by the art of Latin dance.

More than a hundred albums were recorded by Tito in the fifties and there were three distinctly jazz-oriented collections among them. One of those jazz offerings was with Woody Herman.

In 1981 Tito broke up his big band and formed a jazz ensemble called the Latin Percussion Jazz Ensemble, which continued to tour, with Puente leading it well into the 1990's.

I was interested to learn that Tito Puente's "Para Los Rumberos" and his "Oye Como Va" were covered by the now-revitalized Carlos Santana in the 1970's successfully and are now Latin jazz standards.

TITO PUENTE died in June of 2000 ending a tremendously successful life in the promotion and the performance of Latin music.

Edited April 29, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

It seems fitting that Tito Puente's profile should be followed by that of "PUCHO" [Henry Lee Brown], born in New York in 1938.

Pucho acquired his nickname because he did self-taught spot-on imitations of Puente, who was his favourite musician.

From the time Pucho was sixteen, he was working professionally, playing timbales with Joe Panama in Harlem as well as in the Bronx.

He formed his own band in 1959, which had an augmented rhythm-section, which also included vibes. This band appeared in Count Basie's club, as well as a 1966 festival date at Carnegie Hall.

Prestige recorded Pucho with his band, The Latin Soul Brothers for eight years, between 1966 and 1974. The rather odd band name was due to it's repertoire, which ranged from r&b to boogaloo. At the same time he was recording with such jazzers as George Benson, Lonnie Smith and Gene Ammons.

The next step in Pucho's musical journey was with a trio in the late 1970's and 1980's at resorts in the Catskill Mountains.

The rise of the acid-jazz in Britain and Japan prompted our guy to re-form his band and go to both in 1993.

Since then, Pucho has recorded several new albums, as well as having his earlier material re-released.

Look for "Rip-A-Dip" [1995 Milestone] which is Pucho's first U.S. recording for many years. It brings together Al and Ed Pazant, on trumpet and reeds, who are both former sidemen. Also, Bill Bivens can be heard on vibes and John Spruill on piano and organ. Very nice collection.

[patricia]

Next, lets talk about RUSSELL "BIG CHIEF" MOORE, born near Sacaton Arizona in 1912. Moore plays trombone and also sings.

Russell learned to play the trombone as a young man, taught by his uncle.

He lived in the Chicago area and, during the 1920's he played locally and then joined Lionel Hampton's band in Los Angeles in 1935.

He went from Hampton's band to one led by Eddie Barefield.

In the early forties, Moore moved to New Orleans and worked around the city with Oscar Celestin, Paul Barbarin, Noble Sissle and Harlan Leonard. He also worked with Louis Armstrong's big band, which at the time counted Dexter Gordon among it's personel.

By the fifties our guy was associated with Eddie Condon, Wild Bill Davison, Tony Parenti, Sammy Price, Buck Clayton, Don Byas, Hot LIps Page and also Henry "Red" Allen.

Time passed and Big Chief worked fairly steadily, but the highpoint of his career was probably his joining Louis Armstrong's band for a year in 1964. He replaced Trummy Young. After that he formed his own band and gigged with Lester Lanin, keeping busy until 1981. The old trouper just seemed to run out of steam.

RUSSELL BIG CHIEF MOORE died in December of 1983. He was seventy-one.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

Here's another artist who, like Dave Tough, has his surname as his nickname. He is "JOHNNY WIGGS [John Wigginton Hyman]. He was born in New Orleans in 1899.

Johnny Wiggs was a violinist, originally, but switched to cornet in the 1920's.

He worked with Norman Brownlee n the mid-twenties and with Happy Schilling in the late twenties.

He also recorded with his own band during the same period.

After this very short professional musical career, Johnny Wiggs left music to become a schoolmaster in the early 1930's.

But, in 1948 he was back on the scene with a vengence. After that initial blast, he did slow down. He was still playing in the sixties at festivals, like the 1969 New Orleans jazz festival and other gigs until 1974.

JOHNNY WIGGS is an active member of the New Orleans Jazz Society and is a lifelong jazz enthusiast, as well as a prominent authority on the passion we all know as JAZZ.

Edited March 17, 2004 by patricia

[patricia]

And now we have another drummer, JEFF "TAIN'' WATTS. Jeff was born in Pittsburgh in 1960.

Watts has achieved true prominence through his association with the brothers Marsalis, Wynton and Branford. With that leg-up he has become one of the most in-demand drummers of his generation.

He has also used his partnership with bassist, Robert Hurst, as well as that with the Marsalis brothers to his advantage. As a result, he has worked with pianists, Donald Brown and Geri Allen, as well as saxophonists Ricky Ford and Rick Margitza on recordings made in the 1980's and the 1990's.

The list of artists with whom his work is associated is long and includes Robin Eubanks, Betty carter, McCoy Tyner, Stephen Scott, Gary Thomas, Sadao Satanabe and Jim Snidero.

Watts appears on albums by guitarists Ron Affif, "52nd St" [1995 Pablo]

He also collaborated with saxophonists like Greg Osby on "Art Forum" [1996 Blue Note], Kenny Garrett on "Songbook" [1997 Warner Brothers], and Michael Brecker on "Two Blocks From The Edge"[1998 Impulse].

JEFF TAIN WATTS is one of the new wave of jazz drummers who have taken up the torch and run with it. He is known as a drummer whose presence in a band's rhythm section is practically a guarantee of success.

[patricia]

Now, here's a surprise. Usually artists who have nicknames have ones which are reflexions of a particular characteristic or eccentricity. Here's one that is just a different name than is on his birth certificate and quite ordinary.

It's JOE WILLIAMS [Joseph Goreed]. This Joe Williams should not be confused with the blues singer, "Big" Joe Williams.

Our Joe was born in Cordele Georgia, in 1918. He was raised in Chicago and started singing professionally in nightclubs there with Jimmie Noone's group in the late 1930's. Then, in the early forties he worked with Coleman Hawkins and Lionel Hampton.

In the late forties, Joe toured with Andy Kirk and recorded with Andy Kirk, his first record, in 1946 in New York.

He then worked with the Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson band, as well as with Red Saunders in Chicago. Williams recorded with the Saunders band, under the leadership of Hot Lips Page in 1950.

His next stop was with Count Basie's septet, still in 1950 and his reputation was begun with his gigantic hit record, "Every Day" on which he was backed by the King Kolax band.

Following that, Williams was Count Basie's regular singer and brought both the band and himself a huge wave of popularity in the fifties.

Then Williams then became a soloist, performing with various bands, including the Harry Edison quintet in the early sixties. He then performed with his own trios, led by pianists, Junior Mance and Norman Simmons among them.

Joe also made several appearance with all-star jazz groups, including an African tour with Clark Terry's quintet in 1979.

You may also remember seeing Joe in a speaking role on the Cosby show in the eighties.

Joe Williams has a very distinctive singing voice, described as darker and deeper than that of Billy Eckstine's. His voice is extremely effective in presenting blues in a sophistocated way. He is equally good when singing jazz and ballads.

JOE WILLIAMS DIED in March, 1999.

Edited March 18, 2004 by patricia