Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joe Williams: Music for Lovers

222

Joe Williams: Music for Lovers

By

View read count
Joe Williams: Music for Lovers
Joe Williams' Music for Lovers comes closer to the cocktail sophistication of Nat King Cole or Billy Eckstine than to any blues jump or shout to which Williams gave joyous voice as vocalist with the Count Basie Band.

Perhaps the best part of this material, drawn from Williams' 1959-63 ballad albums for Roulette Records, is hearing his profound, inexhaustible voice keeping quiet company with fellow Basie alumni Harry "Sweets Edison (trumpet), Ben Webster (tenor saxophone), and rhythmist Freddie Green (guitar), plus other first-rate jazz musicians such as Hank Jones (piano), Milt Hinton (bass) and drummer Don Lamond (a veteran of Woody Herman's Thundering Herd).

Pristine arrangements by Jimmy Jones and Ernie Wilkins cast Williams in a courtly voice. From his album Together with Edison, "Always swaps in the rhythm section of Sir Charles Thompson (piano), Tommy Potter (bass) and Clarence Johnson (drums); Thompson's solitary piano sparkles against Williams' opening verse like sophisticated diamond jewelry, then swings out some single-note boogie while the horns add their smooth blues touch. "Sweets sings out like his namesake to complete Williams' verses in "I Only Have Eyes for You, though the arrangement, like a chocolate candy, saves the middle break for Webster's smooth, creamy saxophone. Likewise, Webster's tenor huskily whispers to counterpoint Williams' opening verse of "If I Should Lose You, tinged with a sadness that allows him to dig into the blues a little.

In "Stella by Starlight, his stately intonation of "the murmur of a brook at eventide conjures up images as classically rustic as Walt Whitman. Like Williams' voice, its closing instrumental passage flows past as powerful and enduring as "Old Man River. It just keeps rolling along.

Track Listing

I Only Have Eyes for You; The Very Thought of You; If I Should Lose You; Always; You Are Too Beautiful; Candy; Say It Isn

Personnel

Joe Williams: vocals; Orchestra arranged and conducted by Jimmy Jones; Orchestra arranged and conducted by Jimmy Mundy; Harry

Album information

Title: Music for Lovers | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.