Claude Berkeley Williamson (November 18, 1926 – July 16, 2016) was an American jazz pianist.
Williamson was born in
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...
, United States. He studied at the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
before moving to jazz, influenced mainly by
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive Swing music, swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was high ...
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...
. In 1947, he moved to California, working first with
Teddy Edwards
Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Biography
Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...
, then with
Red Norvo
Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recor ...
in San Francisco, with
Charlie Barnet
Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.
His major recordings were "Nagasaki", "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "South ...
in 1949, and with
June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued ...
for two years. Later he worked with
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...
,
Art Pepper
Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...
and others. Williamson was a longtime member of the Lighthouse All-Stars (substituting for pianist Russ Freeman), performing with
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...
quartet. In 1968, he started working as a pianist for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, first on ''
The Andy Williams Show
''The Andy Williams Show'' is an American television variety show hosted by singer Andy Williams that ran on NBC (and was videotaped in color) from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'') ...
'', then for
Sonny and Cher
Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
The pair first ac ...
. In 1978, Williamson went back to the jazz world and released many albums, mainly for Japanese labels, often accompanied by Sam Jones and
Roy Haynes
Roy Owen Haynes (March 13, 1925 – November 12, 2024) was an American jazz drummer. In the 1950s, he was given the nickname "Snap Crackle" for his distinctive snare drum sound and musical vocabulary. He is among the most recorded drummers in ja ...
. In 1995 he made a trio recording for Fresh Sound Records at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles.
His younger brother was trumpeter Stu Williamson (1933–1991).
He died on July 16, 2016, at the age of 89.
Discography
* 195t ''Kenton Jazz Presents: Claude Williamson Trio - Key West''
* 1956 '''Round Midnight'' (
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
)
* 1956 ''Claude Williamson'' (Bethlehem) (re-released under title ''Have Piano Can't Travel'' by Starday-King Records)
* 1956 ''Trio/Round Midnight'' (Bethlehem Jap) (two Lp's reissued in this CD in 2005)
* 1958 ''Claude Williamson Mulls the Mulligan Scene With His Twin Jazz Pianos And Trio'' (Criterion)
* 1958 ''In Italy'' (Broadway International)
* 1961 ''The Fabulous Claude Williamson Trio'' (Contract Recs)
* 1962 ''Theatre Party Attended By The C W Quartet'' (Contract Recs)
* 1977 ''Stella by Starlight'' (Interplay Jap)
* 1977 ''Holography'' (Interplay)
* 1978 ''Blues in Front'' ( Storyville)
* 1979 ''La Fiesta''
* 1978 ''New Departure'' (Interplay)
* 1981 ''Tribute to Bud'' (
Eastworld
is a Japanese record label owned by Universal Music Japan. It was originally founded in 1978 under Toshiba-EMI. In 2012, Eastworld's parent company, EMI Music Japan, was acquired by Universal Music Japan following the acquisition of EMI by Un ...
)
* 1983 ''Claude Reigns'' (Interplay)
* 1987 ''Live! "The Sermon"'' (Fresh Sound)
* 1988 ''Standards'' (Interplay)
* 1990 ''Memories of West Coast'' (Interplay)
* 1990 ''Standards, Vol. 2'' (Interplay)
* 1991 ''As Time Goes By'' (Interplay)
* 1992 ''South of the Border, West of the Sun'' (
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
)
* 1994 ''El Noche De Espana'' (Interplay)
* 1994 ''Live In Tokyo'' (Interplay)
* 1995 ''Autumn In New York'' (Interplay)
* 1995 ''Hallucinations'' (VSOP)
* 1995 ''Live at the Jazz Bakery'' (Fresh Sound)
* 2001 ''Collaboration 93'' (Interplay)
* 2002 ''Song for My Father'' (
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
)
* 2006 ''Blue Minor'' (
Pony Canyon
, also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
)
* 2006 ''Claude Williamson Trio'' (
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
)
* 2008 ''Cleopatra's Dream'' (M&I)
With
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
* ''
Witch Doctor
A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...
'' (
Contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
, 1953
985
Year 985 ( CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an ...
Maynard Ferguson
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records was an American jazz independent record label, founded by Gus Wildi in 1953.
History
Bethlehem is remembered for its jazz releases from the 1950s. Producers included Creed Taylor and Teddy Charles. Bethlehem released the firs ...
, 1956)
With
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...
and
Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sop ...
* ''
Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges
''Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges'' is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Johnny Hodges featuring performances recorded in 1959 released on the Verve Records, Verve label.Verve, 1959)
With
Art Pepper
Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...
Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
, 1952–1954
956
Year 956 ( CMLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Byzantine Empire
* Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the Byzantine field army (''Domestic o ...
Pete Rugolo
Pietro Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011), known professionally as Pete Rugolo, was an American jazz composer, arranger, and record producer.
Life and career
Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily. His family emigrated to the ...
Harmony
In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
958
Year 958 (Roman numerals, CMLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* October / November – Battle of Raban: The Byzantine Empire, Byzantines under John I Tzimiskes, Jo ...
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...
960
Year 960 ( CMLX) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. It was the 960th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 960th year of the 1st millennium, the 60th year of the 10th century, and the firs ...