Jazz Articles about Steve Williams

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Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: Ellington Masterworks

by Jack Bowers
June 18, 2026

When the topic of Duke Ellington's masterworks arises (rarely, it is true, but not implausibly so), the leading candidates usually comprise such popular standards as “Sophisticated Lady," “Mood Indigo," “Prelude to a Kiss" and “Satin Doll"--not one of which is included in the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra's chronicle of Ellington Masterworks, recorded live in April 2024 at MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, PA. With more than a thousand of Ellington's compositions from which to choose, the SJMO and its ...

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Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: Bernstein Reimagined

by Jack Bowers
January 24, 2021

This impressive anthology by the superb Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra is not so much Bernstein Reimagined as Bernstein Unleashed. The jazz component in Leonard Bernstein's memorable compositions for symphony orchestra, Broadway shows, films and even liturgical works always lay simmering just below the surface. As Bernstein is said to have confided to Duke Ellington: “Maybe that's really the difference between us. You write symphonic jazz, and I write jazz symphonies." However credible the remark, there is no doubt that the ...

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Steve Williams: Explaining A Drummer's Role

by Matt Merewitz
July 12, 2004

A career sideman to Washington's own, the legendary singer-pianist Shirley Horn, fellow DC- native drummer Steve Williams has been around the proverbial jazz block and is here to tell you a bit about his ride.

Williams has a jovial air that shows he's unmistakably joyous about living life. But there are issues that come to light in this interview, revealing what irks him. For instance - the typecasting and discrimination against drummers by fans, other musicians and the press, and ...