Jazz Articles about Tomos Williams

About Tomos Williams

Album Review

Tomos Williams: Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy

Read "Cwmwl Tystion III / Empathy" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
July 19, 2026

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. So it has proven for Welsh trumpeter-composer Tomos Williams, whose intended one-off album Cwmwl Tystion / Witness (Tŷ Cerdd, 2019) unwittingly became the first installment of a trilogy charting Welsh identity, history and internationalism. Realizing there were still important stories to tell, Cwmwl Tystion II: Riot! (Tŷ Cerdd, 2021) picked up where Witness left off. On this second volume Williams addressed blood-soaked historical events in Wales--revolts, pogroms and race riots--across a brilliant one-hour suite. ...

Interview

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' ...