Buster Williams
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Biography
Buster Williams is an American jazz musician whose skill on the double bass made him an almost indispensable accompanist for many great artists both instrumental and vocal for several decades. He continues to perform today with his most recent recording, 'There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit' with pianist Cyrus Chestnut plus Steve Nelson on vibraphone and Lenny White on drums, in 2017. A consistent favourite with audiences and critics alike, he performed in Birmingham in 2001 with White and pianist Geri Allen in support of their album 'Houdini'.
Born in New Jersey, he learned to play jazz as a child from his musician father and began to play gigs as a teenager. He studied at Philadelphia's Combs College of Music and performed with Jimmy Heath, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Singer Dakota Staton hired him for her band in 1961 and he went on to accompany other singers such as Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson. He performed with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in Europe and after a stint on the US west coast playing with the Jazz Crusaders, he moved to New York City where he played with Art Blakey, Herbie Mann and many others.
His first album as band leader came in 1975 with 'Pinnacle' and in 1979 he played with pianist Hank Jones and drummer Tony Williams as the Great Jazz Trio on the album 'Love for Sale', which was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. He made many records with Herbie Hancock and was honoured with grants from the US National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2015, he joined saxophone player Gary Bartz, pianist White and drummer Al Foster to create a foursome of the most respected jazz artists of their time named Heads of State. Their recording 'Search for Peace' went to number 19 on Billboard's Jazz Albums Chart.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Forever Again by Buster Williams
- With Malice Toward None featuring Benny Golson
- Sometime Ago featuring Ben Riley
- Easy Street featuring Ben Riley
- Watermelon Man featuring Steve Wilson
- Maiden Voyage featuring Steve Wilson
- It Could Happen To You featuring Arnett Cobb
- Chameleon featuring Steve Wilson
- Rockit featuring Steve Wilson
- Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Butterfly featuring Steve Wilson
- Fables Of Faubus featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Finger Painting featuring Steve Wilson
- Listen Here featuring Ben Riley
- Ysabel's Table Dance featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Cantaloupe Island featuring Steve Wilson
- My Jelly Roll Soul featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Fat Albert Rotunda featuring Steve Wilson
- Sue's Changes featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Portrait featuring Jimmy Knepper
- Hand Full of Five featuring Vincent Herring
- Dorthaan's Walk featuring Vincent Herring
- One for Kirk featuring Vincent Herring
- Three for the Festival featuring Vincent Herring
