Home » Jazz Articles » David Williams
Jazz Articles about David Williams
Mary Stallings: Songs Were Made to Sing
by Dave Linn
One of eleven children, Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco in 1939. In her teens, she began singing in San Francisco night clubs and performed with Ben Webster, Earl Hines, Red Mitchell, Teddy Edwards, and Wes Montgomery. Before graduating from high school, she joined R&B singer Louis Jordan's Tympani Five. In the early '60s, she performed with Dizzy Gillespie at both the Black Hawk nightclub and the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival. Her debut album was Cal Tjader ...
read moreJavon Jackson: The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni
by Angelo Leonardi
Nikki Giovanni è una delle scrittrici afro-americane più note al mondo. Emersa alla fine degli anni sessanta come innovativa poetessa della Black Revolution entro il Black Arts Movement (c'erano anche Amiri Baraka e Ishmael Reed) ha pubblicato numerose raccolte di poesie e opere su questioni sociali, insegnando al contempo in varie università statunitensi. Giunta alla soglia degli ottant'anni ha un enorme curriculum di riconoscimenti prestigiosi. L'idea d'incidere quest'album col gruppo del sassofonista Javon Jackson nasce nel ...
read moreDavid Williams: Tipping My Hat To Leonard
by Paul Naser
When thinking of powerful, challenging lyrics, gypsy" jazz rarely comes to mind. David Williams is out to change that one song at at time. The Emmy award winning songwriter's CV is impressive to say the least; he has worked for PBS (how he won his Emmy), written multiple books on topics ranging from poetry to neuroscience and taught as a university professor, all while continuing to play gypsy jazz. However, after a divorce, Williams moved to Nashville for a new ...
read moreDavid Hazeltine and Mike Kaplan: Two Perspectives On Cedar Walton
by David A. Orthmann
Years ago, I often went to a club in which a guest soloist was coupled with the house rhythm section. At one point in nearly every opening set, in an effort to find some common ground, the leader called Cedar Walton's Bolivia." Sitting and waiting in anticipation for the theme to be played became an important part of witnessing each performance. Regardless of who was on the bandstand, Bolivia" never failed to bring out the best in everyone.
read more