Jeff Williams (musician)

Jeff Williams
Birth name	Jeffrey Lawrence Williams
Born	(1950-07-06) July 6, 1950 (age 74) Mount Vernon, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, educator
Instrument	Drums
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	Whirlwind
Website	willfulmusic.com

Jeffrey Lawrence Williams (born July 6, 1950) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.

Early life

Williams was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on July 6, 1950.^[1] He grew up in Oberlin, Ohio.^[1] His mother was a singer in the 1960s.^[1] Williams began playing the drums, self-taught, at the age of seven and played professionally from his mid-teens.^[1] From 1968, "he studied arranging and composition at the Berklee School of Music".^[1]

Later life and career

Williams played for a short time with various musicians in New York in 1971, joined pianist Marc Copland's band, and played for the first time with saxophonist Lee Konitz in 1972.^[1] He continued to work with Konitz on and off into the 2000s.^[1] Williams played with saxophonist Stan Getz at the end of 1972 and into early 1973, before joining the band Lookout Farm, led by Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach.^[1] Williams was also the drummer in pianist Beirach's trio for recordings in the mid-1970s.^[1]

Williams was part of the band Interplay, formed by bassist Anthony Cox and pianist Peter Madsen in the mid-1980s.^[2] This trio performed with Getz in 1987.^[2] Some of Williams's compositions were played on the albums Coalescence and Jazzblues.^[2] The former title was also the name of Williams's group from 1991 to 1996.^[1] The following year, "he formed the trio Circadian Rhythms with Tony Malaby and Michael Formanek. He also formed another trio, Left-handed Compliment, with the alto saxophonist John O'Gallagher and Madsen (on Hammond organ)".^[1]

Williams has taught at the Royal Academy of Music^[3] and the Birmingham Conservatoire.^[4] He is married to the American author Lionel Shriver.^[5]

Discography

As leader or co-leader

• Coalescence (SteepleChase, recorded in 1991, released in 1994)
• Another Time (Whirlwind, 2011)^[6]
• The Listener (Whirlwind, 2013)^[7]
• Outlier (Whirlwind, 2016)^[8]
• Lifelike (Whirlwind, 2018)^[9][10]
• Bloom (Whirlwind, 2019)^[11][12]

As sideman

With Richard Beirach

• Eon (ECM, 1974)
• Methuselah (Trio, 1975)

With Paul Bley

• Paul Plays Carla (SteepleChase, 1992)

With Ethan Iverson

• Live at Smalls (Fresh Sound, 2000)

With Lee Konitz

• Lunasea (Soul Note, 1992) with Peggy Stern
• Dig-It (SteepleChase, 1999) with Ted Brown
• First Meeting: Live in London, Volume 1 (Whirlwind, 2014)

With Dave Liebman

• Lookout Farm (ECM, 1973)
• Drum Ode (ECM, 1974)
• Sweet Hands (Horizon, 1975)

References

1. Kennedy, Gary W. (2003). "Williams, Jeff(rey Lawrence)". oxfordmusiconline.com. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J726800.
2. Madsen, Peter (May 30, 2006). "Jeff Williams: Drums in the House". AllAboutJazz.
3. "Staff - Jeff Williams". ram.ac.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
4. "Jeff Williams". Birmingham City University. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
5. Barber, Lynn (April 22, 2007). "Interview: Lionel Shriver". The Observer. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
6. Fordham, John (October 6, 2011). "Jeff Williams: Another Time – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
7. "Jeff Williams: The Listener". Jazzwise. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
8. Fordham, John (March 10, 2016). "Jeff Williams: Outlier review – robustly appealing tunes and sparky improv". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
9. "Jeff Williams: Lifelike album review". All About Jazz. March 31, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
10. "CD REVIEW: Jeff Williams – Lifelike". London Jazz News. June 25, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
11. Macnie, Jim (July 17, 2024). "Jeff Williams: Bloom (Whirlwind)". JazzTimes. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
12. "Jeff Williams: Bloom album review". All About Jazz. May 2, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

External links

• Official site
• Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2009 Retrieved January 8, 2011
• London Jazz 2009 at archive.today (archived November 22, 2012) Retrieved January 8, 2011