Buster Williams

Buster Williams is a prodigious artist whose playing knows no limits. He has played, recorded and collaborated with jazz giants such as Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Lee Konitz, McCoy Tyner, Illinois Jacquet, Nancy Wilson, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Ron Carter, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Golson, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Rowles, Hampton Hawes, Cedar Walton, Bobby Hutcherson, Billy Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Errol Garner, Kenny Barron, Charlie Rouse, Dakota Staton, Kenny Dorham, and Freddie Hubbard, to name a few.

Mr. Williams has recorded soundtracks for movies including Les Choix des Armes; McKenna’s Gold with Gregory Peck; David Lynch’s, Twin Peaks ”Fire Walk With Me”; Spike Lee’s Clockers, and more. Television commercials include Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Tott’s Champagne, Prudential Insurance, Chemical Bank, Alpo Dog Food, HBO, and Budweiser Beer. TV shows include an appearance on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show, with Errol Garner; and the Jay Leno Tonight Show, where he performed five of his original compositions with the Branford Marsalis Tonight Show Band. Other television shows include Sesame Street, with Joe Williams; A&E (Arts and Entertainment), with Bill Cosby; The Joan Rivers Show, with Bill Cosby; The Andy Williams Show, with Nancy Wilson; the Joey Bishop Show; the Grammy Awards, with Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Bobby McFerrin; the Mike Douglas Show; the Today Show; etc.

Awards include a Grammy in 1979; the Min-On Art Award; the SGI Glory Award the SGI Cultural Award; the RVC Corporation RCA Best Seller Award; NEA recipient; New York Fellowship Grant; 5 Stars from Downbeat magazine for the album Crystal Reflections , listed in Who’s Who in Black America; and numerous proclamations.

Charles Anthony Williams, Jr. (nickname: Buster) was born in Camden, New Jersey on April 17, 1942. His mother, Gladys worked as a seamstress and his father, Charles Anthony Williams, Sr. (nick-name: Cholly), a bassist, worked various day jobs to support his five children, and at night played gigs to support his musical spirit. “He would prepare my lessons for me,” Buster recalls, ” and when I got home from school I was supposed to practice, then he would listen while he was eating his dinner. It was an unwritten law that I had to play it right or hear about it. I was going to be the best. I had no choice. In those days, instead of a two-car family, we were a two bass family. My father was a fan of Slam Stewart, and he strung his basses the way Slam did. Instead of the regular G-D-AE, he strung a high C; i.e., C-G-D-A. Adding the C string puts the playing of higher-pitched passages at a more comfortable position. He told me, ‘If I re-string my bass for you, you’d better be serious!'”

And Buster indeed was serious. In 1959 he began working with Jimmy Heath whose quartet included Sam Dockery on piano and the legendary Specs Wright on drums. What I learned from Jimmy about music and life was so valuable that bits and pieces of that experience continue to unfold even now. It was like taking a Time release “capsule of knowledge.” At the age of age 17, he began playing with Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, just one month after graduating from Camden High School in 1960, and stayed with them for a year until the band got stranded in Kansas City. My parents had told me to always keep my train fare home tucked away in a bible, which they had given me. Well this was great lookin’ out, but I would probably never have a problem, I thought. Wrong. When the problem did occur I was out on the road broke. Gene Ammons had run off with all the money and nobody got paid. Fortunately, I, along with the piano player and drummer was able to work a week with Al Hibbler, and thereby earn my train fare back home.

Back home in Camden, Buster took some courses in Composition and Harmony and Theory at Combs College of Music in Philadelphia. Then came a gig in Wilmington, Delaware with the Gerald Price Trio. Dakota Staton heard the trio and hired them on the spot. In 1962, he moved on to work with singer Betty Carter, and then Sarah Vaughan, who took him on his first European tour. He was 20 years old, on the French Riviera, and meeting musicians who would figure heavily in his future—Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, George Coleman, and Tony Williams. His big, deep, resilient and inventive playing since then has made him the bassist of choice throughout the jazz world.

In 1964 he joined Nancy Wilson, got married, and moved out to L.A. He continued to work with Nancy until he decided to return to New York in October of 1968. About 5 or 6 albums came from this relationship. During this time he also worked with and recorded 5 albums with the Jazz Crusaders; worked and recorded with Miles Davis; played with Kenny Durham and was in demand as first call for recording studio; TV, and movie dates.

As soon as he returned to New York he began working with Art Blakely, Herbie Mann, Herbie Hancock and Mary Lou Williams. This worked fine until gigs started to conflict and Buster was forced to choose. He chose to stay with the Herbie Hancock sextet which consisted of Herbie, Buster, Johnny Coles, Garnet Brown, Joe Henderson, and Tootle Heath. Between 1969 and 1972 the group metamorphosised into the final personnel: Benny Maupin, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, and Patrick Gleason on Moog synthesizer, Herbie, and Buster.

In 1980, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for his contribution to the album “Love For Sale”/The Great Jazz Trio, with Hank Jones and Tony Williams. His arrangements and compositions have been recorded by Roy Ayers, Roy Hargrove, Art Blakely, Larry Coryell, Freddie Hubbard, Buck Hill, the Jazz Crusaders, Mary Lou Williams, and Herbie Hancock, to name a few.

In addition to albums, he has recorded numerous television commercials and movie soundtracks. Buster, along with Ron Carter was the featured soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra on the soundtrack composed by Phillipe Sarde for the Yves Montand and Simone Signoret film, ” LES CHOIX DES ARMES.” “That film required quite a commute,” Buster recalls. “I had to go back and forth to London at least once a month for six months, carrying my bass. They really got to know me at JFK and Heathrow.

Somewhere in the early’80’s, Buster did a tour with Herbie and Tony Williams which included the young, fresh, new on the scene trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis. Then Herbie formed a trio of himself, Buster and Al Foster on drums. For certain summer tours, Branford Marsalis, Michael Brecker, or Greg Osby were added. The trio continued working together until 1995. Also during this period there was a Grammy appearance which featured a quintet made up of Buster, Herbie, Tony, and Bobby McFerrin. In 1989, Buster recorded an album of his compositions that featured Wayne Shorter; Herbie, Al, and a brilliant trumpeter named Shunzo Ono. This project entitled “Something More,” was released on the IN+OUT lable and became the catalyst for Buster to form his own group which he calls “Something More.”

In 1991 he was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant to compose and perform a work for quintet, string ensemble and vocal chorus. Also that year he received a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Grant.

Before forming the Buster Williams Quintet “Something More” he was a member of the world renowned cooperative quartet, Sphere, which consisted of pianist Kenny Barron; drummer Ben Riley; Buster Williams; and the late tenor saxophonist Charles Rouse. Then came his work with ”The Timeless Allstars”, featuring Buster; Cedar Walton; Billy Higgins; Curtis Fuller; Harold Land; and Bobby Hutcherson.

“After working almost continuously for 30 years as a sideman,” says Buster, “I decided it was time to take the plunge, step up to the front, play my music, and express my concept of a cohesive musical unit. I’ve served my apprenticeship under many great masters and feel that it’s my honor and privilege to carry on the lineage that makes this music such an artistically rich art form.

Since the inception of “Something More” in 1990, the group has had numerous tours of Europe including the first International Jazz Festival in Moscow; tour of Japan and Australia; countless engagements throughout the U.S. and a CD soon to be released.

After all this and ” Something More”, the logical question for Buster is, ” What’s next “?
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Read "Panoply" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 8, 2024

There was a Steinway in the Zeitlin household in the outskirts of Chicago in the early 1940s. During this time Denny Zeitlin would find his way to the piano playing parental laps and sit at the keyboard, where he, he says: “I would put my little hands on their hands and go along for the ride...and I was just very intrigued by the entire panoply of sounds that were possible with that instrument." (from the 2010 AAJ interview with the ...

Album Review

Denny Zeitlin: Panoply

Read "Panoply" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
June 14, 2024

Denny Zeitlin's Panoply is a diverse array collection of unreleased performances comprising solo piano recordings at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, California, trio sessions with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson captured at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City, and duo pieces with drummer/percussionist George Marsh collected over a decade of home recordings at Zeitlin's Double Helix Studio. The album opens with a trio performance of George Gershwin's “I Was Doing All Right." ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards II

Read "Standards II" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
May 6, 2024

On Standards II, pianist Noah Haidu embarks on a captivating journey through the jazz tradition, accompanied by bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart. The seven tracks were recorded at the Van Gelder studio. The album starts with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow." This track, famously sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 film “Wizard of Oz," became her signature song. The opening, delivered with finesse by Hart, sets the stage for Haidu to build the number from the ground up, ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
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Forty years after the renowned Standards Trio comprised of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette released its debut album, Standards, Vol. 1, New York-based pianist Noah Haidu pays his respects with a similarly named enterprise (sans volume number) featuring bassists Buster Williams or Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash, with saxophonist Steve Wilson making it a quartet on four numbers. The Standards Trio's body of work “brought me inspiration, solace and happiness," Haidu writes in the ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
June 23, 2023

A standard is defined as a musical composition that has become a part of the standard repetoire. The conventional wisdom suggests that this definition applies to popular songs of the twentieth century based on the premise that their popularity has lasted beyond the period of their initial publication. Pianist/composer Noah Haidu has taken this to heart on his persuasive album Standards. Accompanied by a cohort of acclaimed sidemen including bassists Buster Williams and Peter Washington, drummer ...

Album Review

Noah Haidu: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
June 9, 2023

In 1983, Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette released the first of their album of standards, Standards Vol. 1 (ECM). The trio's harmonic ideas, insight and collective musicianship went on to become the benchmark for reworking these well- known American songs. Together they recorded 21 albums over three decades. Inspired by that trio's work and celebrating the 40th anniversary of that release, pianist & composer, Noah Haidu, has released Standards. He is joined by bassists Buster Williams ...

Album Review

Jeremy Pelt: The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 2/His Muse

Read "The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 2/His Muse" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 30, 2023

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt's album, The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 2, is a hybrid: nearly one-half jazz quartet (quintet on one track), more than the other half quartet with strings. Strangely enough, the strings are nowhere listed on the album jacket, nor are Pelt's colleagues in his quartet. One has to read an accompanying press release from HighNote Records to learn that they are pianist Victor Gould, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart (with guitarist Chico Pinheiro added on the ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Performance / Tour

World-Renowned Smoke Jazz Club Announces Line-Up For April Jazz Appreciation Month

Source: AMT Public Relations
March 2, 2023

Described as “the most genuine, congenial and best-run jazz club in the city (Huffington Post),” New York’s Smoke Jazz Club presents a stellar line-up of some of jazz’s greatest artists during April aka Jazz Appreciation Month. The month’s cornerstones are two album release concerts celebrating recordings on the club’s house label, Smoke Sessions: Buster Williams’s Unalome (Apr 13-16) and Wayne Escoffery’s Like Minds (Apr 20-23). Other highlights include octogenarian Eddie Henderson leading his quintet (Apr 6-9), and two stellar pianists: ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Place our Musician of ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2018

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Place our Musician of ...
read more

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buster Williams

Source: Michael Ricci
April 17, 2017

All About Jazz is celebrating Buster Williams' birthday today!

Place our Musician of ...
read more

120

Performance / Tour

Jazz Bassist Buster Williams Performing at Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on Tuesday, February 22

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
February 21, 2011

Legendary jazz bassist Buster Williams performs with his quartet at Irish Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Massachusetts at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Tickets are $17.50 in advance and $20.00 at the door, and can be ordered online. A veteran of jazz for his whole life, Williams has played with McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson and many others. On Tuesday he'll be playing with his talented quartet, featuring Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums, Patrice Rushen on ...
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103

Performance / Tour

Buster Williams Presents Flamenco Jazz Project at Iridium Jazz Club August 6-8, 2010

Source: Seton Hawkins
July 9, 2010

Bassist and composer Buster Williams leads his Something More ensemble in a presentation of flamenco and jazz entitled Spanish Sun--Flamenco Rising, with Mark Gross on saxophone, Eric Reed on piano, Ignacio Berroa on drums, and special guest Adam del Monte on flamenco guitar, at the Iridium Jazz Club August 6-8, 2010. Sets begin at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. and feature a $25 cover charge.

Building upon his bandleader status as the head of the “Something More" Quartet, Mr. Williams ...
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