Sammie 'Big Sam' Williams is a trombonist and band leader from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpor ...

and leads Big Sam's Funky Nation.

Career

In his youth, he studied with saxophonist

Kidd Jordan Edward "Kidd" Jordan (born May 5, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist and music educator from New Orleans, Louisiana. After completing a music degree at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he relocated to New Orleans. He taught at Southern Un ...

and at

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is the regional, pre-professional arts training center for high school students in Louisiana. NOCCA opened in 1973 as a professional arts training center for secondary school-age children. Locat ...

. In his teens, Williams was a founding member of the Stooges Brass Band and joined the Dirty Dozen, allowing him to play with

Karl Denson Karl Denson (born December 27, 1956) is an American funk and jazz saxophonist, flutist and vocalist from Santa Ana, California. He was a member of Lenny Kravitz's band and has co-founded and led The Greyboy Allstars. Denson has recorded with a ...

, Dave Matthews,

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

, and James Brown. After one year with the Dirty Dozen, he began a side project broadening his musical ambitions. In 2006, he played with

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

and

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, describ ...

on their album ''

The River in Reverse ''The River in Reverse'' is a 2006 collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. Track listing All songs written by Allen Toussaint unless otherwise indicated. #"On Your Way ...

'' and tour. Big Sam's Funky Nation became his main band, which performed at

Bonnaroo The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in M ...

Gathering of the Vibes Gathering of the Vibes (often abbreviated as GOTV) was an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrated the Grateful Dead and showcased a diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles would often include funk, ...

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

Voodoo Music Experience The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience (formerly The Voodoo Music Experience), commonly referred to as Voodoo or Voodoo Fest, is a multi-day music and arts festival held in City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Voodoo Experience has hosted more t ...

South By Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

, and on the television show ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

''. Big Sam's Funky Nation is primarily a funk and rock band that has elements of traditional jazz, contemporary jazz, acid jazz, dance, hard rock, and punk. Williams is interviewed on screen and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film '' Make It Funky!'', which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

, funk and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. In the film, Big Sam's Funky Nation performs "Bah Duey Duey" with guest Troy Andrews. Williams had a recurring role in the HBO series '' Treme''. The series followed residents of New Orleans as they tried to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina. Williams proposed to his wife on stage at the

on May 4, 2014. In 2014 he played on the

Durango Blues Train Durango Blues Train is a blues genre live music event in Durango, Colorado on a train on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. It takes place annually over two weekends at the end of the summer. Guests The August 2017 lineup featured H ...

with other blues artists.

Awards and honors

* 2003 OffBeat Awards, Best Emerging Band * 2005 Big Easy Award, Best Funk Band * 2006 Offbeat Awards, Best Funk/R&B Band * 2009 Big Easy Music Award, Best Funk Band of 2008 * 2009 Jam Cruise Golden Mic Award * 2009 Louisiana Division of the Arts Fellowship * 2009 ''Where Y' at'' magazine, Best of the Big Easy's Reader's Pick: Best R&B Band * 2011 Jam Cruise 9 Golden Mic Award * 2012 Jam Cruise 10 Golden Mic Award * 2014 Big Easy Awards, Best Rock Album * 2016 ''Where Y' at'' magazine, Best New Orleans Band

Discography

* ''Birth of a Nation'' (2003) * ''Take Me Back'' (2006) * ''Peace Love & Understanding'' (2008) * ''King of the Party'' (HyperSoul, 2010) * ''Funky Donkey'' (2012) * ''Evolution'' (2014) * ''Feet on the Floor'' (2015) * ''Songs in the Key of Funk, Vol. One'' (2018) * ''No More Shakes'' (2020)

References

"Big Sam's Funky Nation", Christopher Blagg, ''OffBeat'' magazine

"Review of Take Me Back", Robert Fontenot, ''OffBeat'' magazine

* ttp://www.welovedc.com/2010/05/28/we-love-music-big-sams-funky-nation/ "We Love Music: Big Sam's Funky Nation", by Rachel Levitin, We Love DC Specific

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Sam American jazz trombonists Male trombonists Jazz musicians from New Orleans Jazz-funk trombonists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Dirty Dozen Brass Band members 21st-century trombonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians