I have countless hours of recordings that have never been released dating back three decades. I finally decided that it was time to just put them out there or they might just never be heard by anyone but the people who played on them.
If you go to my Bandcamp page, you can stream any of the recordings, but I would appreciate it even more if you chose to buy the tracks. They then become downloadable in a high definition format.
The idea for this came from years of developing methods of practice which fully involve the use of modern technology.
My thought process was: So much technology has become available recently with regard to music recording, performance, enhancement, production….
So why are so many of us still stuck in centuries-old methods of learning how to play music? We purchase written method books and then do our best to translate the written notes into beautiful sounds on our instruments, with varying results.
Sometimes the old methods work well (especially for old music). Sometimes, however, they fall short. This new approach was not designed to replace the traditional methods, but instead was meant to enhance the experience of the student, speeding up the process of learning to play the instrument with a good sound and a strong sense of inner music.
The process is simple. We play together. I have endeavored to provide you with the highest fidelity possible audio recording of the instrument and enough instruction to make all the intentions clear during the videos.
These videos are all available on my Vimeo site. You can rent them for 30 days (during which they are available to you at any time you like). The library is likely to grow immensely, but, at the time of this writing, include methods on range building, tone production, and basic improvisation stills.
Gratitude is a big part of my life. I am very grateful to all of you for coming to hang out with me, listening to the music, and providing me with inspiration!
If you’d like to tip me, please use this link:
https://www.paypal.me/williamsmusic
THANK YOU!
This post is likely to change as I find more stuff online…
(actually, not 1991, although that’s the CD release date) I think it was 1989 or 1990. My first recording, as member of the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Ensemble. We recorded the music of Richard Peaslee: The Chicago Concerto, featuring Gary Smulyan on baritone saxophone. Yours truly on … not sure … 2nd or 3rd trombone? I do recall playing into a Neumann U-87.
Here’s a composition of my own (one of the earliest) that we played in my fusion band, School. The title is Rain Dance. The band never released a CD (or vinyl, that was still an option then!) but we had a few demos, including this one, recorded at my first home studio on Staten Island. The personnel: Andrew Williams, trombone ; Jared Barkan, guitar ; Rob Clores, keyboard ; Takashi Otsuka, bass ; Tony Graci, Drums.
I had different hair back then..
Another Demo of my original music. This time it was recorded at a small commercial studio that I built and owned in lower Manhattan called the Sir Pent Studio for Recording. This is called Early. The personnel were: Andrew Williams, trombone ; Scott Wendholt, trumpet ; Lafayette Harris, piano ; John Ray, bass ; Cody Moffett, drums.
Pictures from that studio are in short supply. Here’s one with a bunch of young (!) jazz cats.
This one is the first “Classical” recording I did. I recall living in my 18th street apartment at the time, which would have been 1993, and I got the call for this session (as a result of a friend who couldn’t make it and needed a sub). It was finally recorded live in 1994.
One of the most interesting setups I have ever done. The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in NYC was the setting, and we were divided into many groups (of 7?). Mine was furthest from the conductor, and we had a closed-circuit TV monitor in front of us in order to see him at all! The cable length was so great that the TV showed no color at all.
I had strep-throat that day, and was popping advils four at a time, and literally drinking Chloraseptic, but I managed to finish the gig!
It was finally released in 1996.
I was a member (lead trombone) of the Tess Marsalis Swing Daddy’s Big Band that played weekly at the Iridium in NYC. Frank Foster was our conductor and music director. For New Years 1995, Frank put together an all-star band which had me again on lead trombone. I’ve been wishing that night (which went live nationally on NPR) were recorded and shared. I found one song!
Frank Foster, Bill Easley, George Coleman, Fostina Dixon, Dave Glasser, Billy Harper, saxophones
Tony Barrero, Cecil Bridgewater, Jon Faddis, Virgil Jones, John Sneider, trumpets
Curtis Fuller, Jack Jeffers, Robert Trowers, Andrew Williams, trombones
Hilton Ruiz, piano; Earl May, bass; Grady Tate, drums; Tony Purrone, guitar, Milt Jackson, vibes
In 96 I did some big band recordings with singers. The first one was pretty star-studded, with names like Wynton Marsalis and Christian McBride in the list. It was singer Anne Hampton Callaway’s CD, To Ella with Love.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/to-ella-with-love/id801244884
And, in a similar vein, Frankie Laine’s CD, Wheels of a Dream. I actually have a trombone solo on That’s All.
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1417836/a/wheels+of+a+dream.htm
My first CD as a leader (co-leader in this case, with my lifelong friend, saxophonist Andy Farber).
This was recorded for the After 9 record label which has since gone out of business, hence the CD is out of print, but you can still find deals on used or new-old-stock.
Personnel: Andy Farber, saxophones ; Andrew Williams, trombone ; Kenny Rampton, trumpet ; Sacha Perry or Eric Reed, piano ; Paul Gill, bass ; Clarence “Tootsie” Bean, drums.
I was an original member of The New Jazz Composers Octet, a NYC-based modern jazz group led by trumpeter David Weiss. We released our first album in 1998, entitled First Steps into Reality.
Personnel: David Weiss, trumpet ; Myron Walden, alto saxophone ; Greg Tardy or Jimmy Greene, tenor saxophone ; James Farnsworth or Dave Rickenburg, baritone saxophone, Xavier Davis, piano ; Dwayne Burno, bass , Nasheet Waits, drums.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/first-steps-into-reality/id271402943
In the same year I also played with Slide Hampton. We had a two-trombone lineup and a contemporary approach that was recorded in the CD Inclusion.
Personnel: Slide Hampton and Andrew Williams, trombones ; Renee Rosnes, piano ; Ray Drummond, bass ; Billy Drummond, drums ; Jiro Yoshida, guitar ; Hiro Ida, synthesizer ; Keiko Lee – vocals
https://www.amazon.com/Inclusion-Slide-Hampton/dp/B000046QBH
No CDs, but there were some live recordings made from TV and radio broadcasts of bands I toured with. The first was Slide Hampton’s World of Trombones, in Graz, Austria. There is a full hour broadcast of this concert floating around in cyberspace, with many more tunes, but currently, this is the only song I can find on Youtube.
Personnel: Locksley ‘Slide’ Hampton, Robin Eubanks, Curtis Fuller, Earl McIntyre, Benny Powell, Andrew Williams, David Gibson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Dennis Wilson, Douglas Purviance (tb), Dado Moroni (p), Reggie Johnson (b), Alvin Queen (dr)
And another European tour, this time with Freddie Hubbard, who was backed up by the New Jazz Composers Octet. We played in a lot of cool places, but this TV broadcast from Pori, Finland is the only one I can find. It seemed to repeat the same footage a few times and no trombone solos (I actually had some!) but it brings back nice memories.
Personnel:
Freddie Hubbard, David Weiss – trumpet ; Myron Walden, alto saxophone ; Craig Handy, tenor saxophone ; Chris Karlic, baritone saxophone ; Andrew Williams, trombone ; Xavier Davis, piano ; Dwayne Burno, bass ; Joe Chambers, drums
And finally for 2000, The New Jazz Composers Octet released Walkin’ The Line, a CD where I appear on one or two numbers. (By that time I had left the band and Steve Davis replaced me).
https://itunes.apple.com/md/album/walkin-the-line/id271301228
Wait…what? a seven-year hiatus? Well, yes, I guess so, and things look pretty different on the other side of it.
Enter the Commercials, Movies, and TV phase.
I don’t have a complete list of the commercials I have played on, and so far can only find a handful of them online, but this one stands out (just by virtue of its visual artistry). My playing on it is somewhat minimal (I think just a few lines of chord tones on trombones.)
Exxon – Eraser
And here’s one where I play double bass and (maybe) trombone. Sort of a tango.
Yeah, I play bass too. Not so much lately, but back then I played a lot more.
The Goldfish Cracker series is one that I played on for more than one “episode”. I’m not even sure which instruments. Probably tenor trombone and tuba, possibly double bass too. Here’s one of them:
For the film Evening, there was a wedding scene where they needed a period band to play the song “Time after time”. We had hoped they would just hire us to be on camera, but, alas, no dice. We pre-recorded the tune, and they got some actors to sync it on screen.
Here’s a TV series that I did lots of music cues on.
They licensed a lot of classic hits, but the underscore also had a 70s retro feel and that’s where you will find me. Pretty much all my instruments, fender bass, tuba, bass trombone, and even some trombone solo (on episode 14, Coffee, Tea or Annie)
It’s pretty much available everywhere to stream or buy DVDs.
On this one I play electric bass as well as trombone. We did our best to copy the original arrangement from Big Red Gum.
This performance was linked to a very ecumenical religious service called “Jazz Vespers”. I’ve edited and mixed it into a film of around 55 minutes in length. We had two cameras and three audio recorders, all of which I had to sync by ear in order to get the best results.
Here it is and I hope you enjoy it:
Come hear and see us every Friday evening at Moxie Wood Fire Grill
Address: 998 Conklin Rd, Conklin, NY 13748
Phone:(607) 237-0779
The band is:
Andrew Williams, trombone
Gene Cothran, keyboard
Larry Lolli, bass
Joe Roma, drums
We play every Friday from 7pm to 9pm.
See you there!
Williams Music 