* En anglais uniquement
Williams began his career during the British trad jazz movement of the 1950s. He's not an early jazz specialist, however, but a versatile improviser who can play convincingly in a swing-derived style; his playing bears the influence of both
Jack Teagarden and
Urbie Green.
Williams played with trumpeter
Mike Peters and clarinetist
Terry Lightfoot in the early '60s. He joined trumpeter
Alex Welsh's Dixieland outfit in 1965, replacing Roy Crimmins. While with
Welsh,
Williams played with such prominent American jazz players as
Wild Bill Davison,
Bud Freeman, and
Ruby Braff.
Williams left
Welsh in 1978 and joined
Humphrey Lyttlelton's band. He stayed with
Lyttelton for four years. In the '80s he began working freelance, playing with such musicians as clarinetist
Peanuts Hucko, tenor saxophonist
Scott Hamilton, trumpeter
Bent Persson, and
Williams's former mate in the Alex Welsh Band, clarinetist
John Barnes. He also performed with The World's Greatest Jazz Band. Among
Williams's recordings are Gruesome Twosome (Black Lion, 1980) and Interplay (Sine, 1996), both with
Barnes. In 1998
Williams co-led a swing-oriented quintet date with saxophonist
Danny Moss; the session produced Steamers! for the Nagel-Heyer label. At this writing
Williams remains a popular presence on the British mainstream jazz scene. ~ Chris Kelsey