Mike Williams is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

residing in

Lapeer, Michigan Lapeer ( ') is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions w ...

. He is most noted as the lead trumpeter for the

Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 195 ...

, an esteemed chair which he held without interruption for more than 21 years. Mike can be heard on numerous Count Basie Orchestra recordings (some of them

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winners), including the recent ''"Basie Is Back"'' (recorded live in Japan) and the Grammy nominated ''" Ray Sings, Basie Swings,"'' on which he was a featured soloist. As a member of the Basie Band, he has performed in all 50 states and 40 countries with such notable names as Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, Sarah Vaughan,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

and

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country music ...

. Mike is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

, where he studied with noted trumpeter

Don Jacoby Don "Jake" Jacoby was a noted trumpeter, teacher, band leader and author who died December 25, 1992 at the age of seventy-two. He played with Benny Goodman, Les Brown (bandleader), Les Brown, did session work for CBS, NBC and soloed at Carnegie ...

, and was a member of the famous

One O'Clock Lab Band One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009''. ...

. In addition to touring and recording with

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, he also performs and records with other noted jazz groups, including Charles Tolliver Big Band. Mike also played trumpet for several years with the 156th Army Band, part of the

Louisiana Army National Guard The Louisiana Army National Guard (French: Garde nationale de Louisiane) is a component of the Louisiana National Guard, and the state's reserve force within the United States Army. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the ...

based in Bossier City, Louisiana under the direction of

Dr. Douglas Peterson Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

External links

Count Basie Orchestra news page

Review of The Count Basie Orchestra and Vocalist Lizz Wright
at AllAboutJazz.com

by Tony Gieske
CD Reviews Count Basie: The Legend, The Legacy

Article: Count Basie' s Centennial Celebration (August 9, 2004)
by Jim Santella

* ttp://www.calicchio.com/playerDetails.cfm?pid=29 Mike Williams bio at Calicchio Musical Instruments website* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mike American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Swing musicians University of North Texas College of Music alumni Living people People from Lapeer, Michigan 21st-century trumpeters Jazz musicians from Michigan 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people)