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Tomos Williams

Tomos, from Aberystwyth, is a unique trumpeter in Wales who straddles both the folk and jazz worlds. He has played internationally with the widely respected and ground breaking Welsh folk band 'fernhill' for the past 15 years.

As well as leading Khamira he also leads the Welsh jazz/folk band Burum which uses Welsh traditional melodies in a modern jazz context, which has played and toured in the US, India and France.

He also leads his own jazz quartet 7Steps which focuses on the music of Miles Davis, which has toured Ireland with the Irish rhythm section of Kevin Lawler (drums) and Andrew Csibi (bass).

Tomos masterminded, played on and produced a trio recording with the eminent Welsh triple harpist Llio Rhydderch and Mark O'Connor on drums, called 'Carn Ingli' which was released in 2012.

He studied Jazz at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff as a Post-graduate student and is a recipient of a prestigious Creative Wales Award (2012-13) from the Arts Council of Wales.

Tomos Williams: An Absolute Riot! Risings, Race And Identity In Wales

by Ian Patterson
January 12, 2024

Threads. They wind their way through history, overlapping, interconnecting and sometimes weaving strange and powerful narratives that never really end, but simply grow and evolve. In 2020, half a millennium after the first transatlantic slave ships set sail from Europe to Africa, cheering protesters in Bristol, England, dumped the statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbor, igniting debate on Britain's imperialist past and historical whitewashing. This hullaballoo, a ripple from the Black Lives Matter ...

Album Review

Tomos Williams: Cwmwl Tystion II: Riot!

Read "Cwmwl Tystion II: Riot!" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
January 12, 2024

Billowing clouds of black smoke dominate a blood-red backdrop. From the cover alone, it is clear that trumpeter/composer Tomos Williams has something extra-musical to say. The Welsh language project name--Cwmwl Tystion means 'witness'--and the English title-- Riot!--writ large, expel any doubt. Inspired by events both famous and infamous in Welsh history--workers revolts, pogroms and race riots--this sprawling one-hour suite is a musical manifesto for a more balanced perspective on Welsh identity/nationalism. It is a subject close to Williams' ...