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Bradley Williams
Bradley Williams - Chicago-based pianist, composer, vocalist and producer. He is a Grammy-nominated pianist/arranger for Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, with whom he toured in the mid 1980s. After settling in Chicago he brought his talents to such classic venues as The Green Mill and The Gold Star Sardine Bar (serving there as musical director.)
In the world of broadcasting he was co-host/creator of the internationally syndicated "Words and Music" program. His compositions have been incorporated into multiple film soundtracks, and his composition/orchestration "Beyond Bars," a tone poem featuring the words of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, was premiered by the Cape Symphony in January 2020.
Williams leads his own 10-piece band, "The 21st Century Review," a group that toured the Middle East and India and, most recently, appears on the CD "Investigation."
His trio was featured at the 2017 Chicago Jazz Festival, and he is currently writing and producing an original musical entitled "The Magic Word." Williams is also collaborating with his wife, vocalist and pianist Amy Jill, on a soon-to-be-released CD, "Back and Forth." He continues to appear regularly in Chicago and also operates their recording studio, Eloquent Sound Chicago.
Williams teaches Jazz piano and vocal technique at Wheaton Conservatory in Wheaton, Illinois, and served on the faculties of DePaul University School of Music, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Benedictine College, and the Moscow College of Improvisation.
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Phil Brown: Rule Of Three
by Thierry De Clemensat
Though he resides in Illinois, it is likely double bassist, composer and teacher Phil Brown's Texan roots that inspired this album with its Latino flavors. Both entertaining and highly academic in concept, the album is enriched by the presence of Fareed Haque, an excellent guitarist who is himself deeply rooted in academic rigor. He reminds us that this style of music has, for decades, been thoroughly modernized by towering figures like Juan Carmona. Expect no surprises here--only an impeccably-crafted album. ...
Continue ReadingBradley Williams / Eric Hochberg / Jim Widlowski: 3
by Ian Patterson
Stalwarts of the Chicago music scene and veterans of an impressive array of collaborations with a who's who of jazz, pianist Bradley Williams, bassist Eric Hochberg--who together penned all the tunes-- and drummer Jim Widlowski make their debut trio recording with 3, an elegant, straight-ahead set of originals. Much of Williams' recorded output over the past twenty years has reflected his love of the music of Cole Porter, Jimmy Van Heusen, Frank Loesser and The Great American Songbook, so the ...
Continue ReadingBradley Williams, Eric Hochberg, and Jim Widlowski: 3
by Chris Mosey
Bradley Williams is a talented, resourceful jazz musician who, for two years in the mid-1980s, was pianist/arranger with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd. He settled in Chicago, becoming house pianist at the legendary Gold Star Sardine Bar. They called it that because it could take only 50 people, though such was its reputation that stars such as Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli performed there. When the bar closed as a regular venue in 1997, Williams created The Original ...
Continue Reading"3" - A Refreshing Approach to the Art of the Piano Trio
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Bradley Williams
After 20 years of musical collaboration pianist Bradley Williams and bassist Eric Hochberg, along with drummer Jim Widlowski, join forces with this excursion through 12 diverse originals, penned by Williams and Hochberg. The program opens with the driving “Penultimatum" and a thoughtful pause in “The Garden." After some beatnik bongos with a “Fish Samich" there's the Monk/Mingus moment in “For Crowley" 'followed by the dense moody harmonies of “Waiting...Waiting..." and “Before Fall." Then the joyful, New Orleans groove of “Clybourn ...
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Sojourn Suite - Concert Premiere and CD Release
Source:
Michael Ricci
Bradley Williams Sojourn Suite—premiere concert and CD release March 25th, 2011, 8 p.m., DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden, Chicago
Pianist Bradley Williams is well-known in Chicago for his jazz work with visiting luminaries Sheila Jordan and Joe Henderson, as well as long associations with Chicago mainstays Von Freeman and Art Hoyle. From his early days in Chicago as musical director at the legendary Gold Star Sardine Bar he's developed a reputation for sensitive accompaniment and creative arranging for vocalists. ...
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Revenge of the Kissing Bug: Bradley Williams and Petra van Nuis
Source:
All About Jazz
With great excitement we, vocalist Petra van Nuis and pianist/vocalist Bradley Williams, announce the release of our brand-spanking-new CD, Revenge of the Kissing Bug, This recording features our duo work with piano alongside quartet numbers accompanied by two of Chicago's Finest, bassist Daniel DeLorenzo and drummer Michael Schlick. We're particularly pleased to be able to introduce Revenge of the Kissing Bug to you via its companion website, revengeofthekissingbug.com, explaining the dark story of the Kissing Bug and allowing you to ...
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"The excellent pianist acquits himself well on his debut CD, shrewdly displaying the many sides of his work. His lush and lyric solo on "The High & the Mighty," his unusually hard swinging version of "Willow Weep for Me" and his thoroughly idiomatic treatment of Horace Silver's "Juicy Lucy" stand out in an album without a weak track." Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune "...you ignore the fine details--the interplay of light and dark, the unusual angles, the narrative contours--at your risk. Williams never fails to surprise and tickle." - Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader "Examining classics with keen understanding, he decorates themes in subtly iridescent emotional shades that never include mawkishness." Frank John Hadley, Downbeat Magazine
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Perfect Wreck
From: Big Eyes Big EarsBy Bradley Williams
Plumb Bob
From: 3By Bradley Williams
