John Williams (pianist)

John Thomas Williams (January 28, 1929 – December 2018) was an American jazz pianist.

Williams was born in Windsor, Vermont on January 28, 1929.^[1] He began playing piano aged eight and joined a local ensemble at twelve; he also learned organ, and performed in church as a teenager.^[1] In March 1945, he embarked on a six-month tour as a member of Mal Hallett's band, having not yet completed high school.^[1]

Late in the 1940s, he played with Johnny Bothwell and Teddy Kotick, and at the end of the decade he relocated from Vermont to New York City.^[1] After playing a gig with Charlie Parker at the end of 1950, he served in the military during the Korean War (1951–53), playing low brass in Army bands.^[1] After the war, he returned to New York, where he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, formed his own trio ensemble, and recorded widely as a sideman.^[1] His associations around this time included Charlie Barnet, Stan Getz, Sal Salvador, Charlie Mariano, Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Cleveland, Phil Woods, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Raney, and Lon Norman.^[1]

Williams also recorded two albums as a leader for EmArcy Records in the mid-1950s.^[2] His eponymous debut was a trio album, with bassist Bill Anthony and drummer Frank Isola, and was recorded in 1954.^[3] The follow-up was also a trio record, with various other musicians, and was made in 1955.^[3] The two were released on one CD by Fresh Sound.^[3]

Disillusioned with the jazz life in New York, Williams decided to move to Florida, where he played for a time as a pianist in Miami Beach, then receded from performance.^[1] He worked as a city commissioner from 1971 to 1991 and held a position in a banking firm while still occasionally playing locally.^[1] He also was a regular performer at an annual music festival in Hollywood, Florida, where he played with Bob Brookmeyer, Buddy DeFranco, Terry Gibbs, and Scott Hamilton.^[1] In 1987, he appeared with Spike Robinson in Clearwater, Florida.^[1] This appearance, plus a piece published in Jazz Journal International in 1994, "helped bring Williams back to the attention of the jazz world",^[4] and he recorded two albums in the 1990s.^[2] He died on December 14^[5] or 15, 2018.^[2]

Williams was "strongly influenced by Bud Powell and Horace Silver".^[2] AllMusic described him as "Inventive, forceful, with a commanding sense of swing and, importantly, a workmanlike view of the true role of the pianist in both mainstream and bop settings".^[4]

• Reproduction of 1962 Jazz Monthly article on Williams