Charles Isaac Williams (born July 18, 1932) is an

alto saxophonist The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Henderson, A.
C. I. Williams: Allmusic Artist Biography
accessed November 11, 2014

Biography

Williams was born in Halls, Tennessee and moved to Alton, Illinois at the age of eight where he later played in the junior high school band, majored in music education at Lincoln University, in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

and taught orchestral music in

St. Albans, Queens St. Albans is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Jamaica to the northwest, Hollis to the north, Queens Village to the northeast, Cambria Heights to the east, Laurelton ...

.Griffiths, David, ''Hot Jazz: From Harlem to Storyville'', Scarecrow Press, 1998, pp. 82-85 He released three albums on the

Mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...

label in the early 1970s. Williams also played with

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

, Frank Foster, and singer

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atl ...

. In 1995 Hamiett Bluiett approached record producer

Pierre Sprey Pierre Michel Sprey was a record producer and a defense analyst. Working with John Boyd and Thomas P. Christie at the Pentagon, he was associated with the self-dubbed 'Fighter Mafia', which advocated the use of energy–maneuverability theory ...

's Mapleshade label and convinced them to record Williams first album in more than two decades.

Discography

* '' Charles Williams'' (

, 1971) * ''

Trees and Grass and Things ''Trees and Grass and Things'' is the second album recorded by American saxophonist Charles Williams in 1971 for the Mainstream label.Edwards, D., Callahan, Eyries, P., Watts, R. & Neely, TDiscography of the Mainstream Label (Preview) accessed Oc ...

'' (Mainstream, 1971) * '' Stickball'' (Mainstream, 1972) * ''

Snake Johnson ''Snake Johnson'' is an album by trumpeter Ted Curson which was recorded in 1980 and first released on the Chiaroscuro label.Ted Curson Theodore Curson (June 3, 1935 – November 4, 2012) was an American jazz trumpeter. Life and career Curson was born in Philadelphia. He became interested in playing trumpet after watching a newspaper salesman play a silver trumpet. Curson's fath ...

(

Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

, 1981)Charles Williams discography
accessed November 11, 2014 * ''

When Alto Was King ''When Alto Was King'' is the final album recorded by American saxophonist Charles Williams (musician), C. I. Williams released in 1997 on the Mapleshade Records, Mapleshade label a quarter century after his previous album. Reception AllMusic aw ...

'' ( Mapleshade, 1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charles 1932 births American jazz musicians Living people People from Halls, Tennessee Jazz musicians from Tennessee Mapleshade Records artists