Home » Jazz Musicians » Bruce Williams

Bruce Williams

Bruce Williams is a powerful young jazz saxophonist who hails from our nation's capital of Washington, D.C. He has made his presence known on the jazz scene by garnering critical attention with his own enthusiastically received CD releases - "Brotherhood" and "Altoicity" - issued on Savant Records. He's made an indelible impression as a sideman on over twenty other CD and video recordings. Bruce has performed, toured, and recorded with a long roster of jazz legends - Little Jimmy Scott, Frank Foster, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Stanley Cowell, Louis Smith, Cecil Brooks III, The Count Basie Orchestra, The World Saxophone Quartet, Russell Gunn, Curtis Fuller, and Roy Hargrove to name a few.

Bruce Williams is a versatile saxophone stylist, performing in a variety of diverse playing environments - from traditional to hip-hop to the avant-garde. He has been an honored recipient of awards from DownBeat magazine and The Charlie Parker Music and More Foundation. His ability to perform masterfully in a range of jazz styles has placed him on two Grammy nominated recordings and sent him to numerous cities throughout the US and abroad - France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, the West Indies, and Japan.

Bruce Williams is a versatile saxophone stylist, performing in a variety of diverse playing environments - from traditional to hip-hop to the avant-garde. He has been an honored recipient of awards from DownBeat magazine and The Charlie Parker Music and More Foundation. His ability to perform masterfully in a range of jazz styles has placed him on two Grammy nominated recordings and sent him to numerous cities throughout the US and abroad in France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, the West Indies, Lebanon, and Japan.

Bruce Williams is currently the newest and youngest member, of the internationally recognized jazz group, "The World Saxophone Quartet". Bruce is currently a member of a newly founded group by legendary drummer Ben Riley, the "Thelonious Monk Legacy Septet". Bruce also leads four bands of his own - a quartet, a quintet, a jazz organ trio, and a progressive electric jazz group.

A noted jazz educator and mentor to young jazz musicians; Bruce has given master classes at Ohio State, Iowa State, The Jazz Institute of New Jersey, The University of the District of Columbia, Princeton University, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center "Jazz For Teens" program, and the Paris Conservatory in France. He has served as adjunct saxophone instructor at both the New School for Social Research (Mannes School of Music) in NYC, Princeton, and William Paterson Universities in New Jersey while continuing to nurture a healthy rooster of private students of his own.

Read more

Tags

18
Album Review

Markus Gottschlich: Found Sounds

Read "Found Sounds" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Found Sounds? As it turns out, there is a special story behind that. For four years leading up to this recording, Austrian-born pianist Markus Gottschlich preserved “sounds" he heard around the world using a binaural mic and hand-held recording device. He writes that one thing he found was that “sounds, more than any other sensory stimulus" sparked his imagination and set his creative juices in motion. He has incorporated a number of those sounds into the nine original compositions on ...

191
Album Review

Bruce Williams: Altoicity

Read "Altoicity" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


The music on Bruce Williams’ Altoicity covers a variety of jazz styles from the past 60 years. Along with his front line partner, trumpeter Russell Gunn, and the formidable support of pianist Marc Cary, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Cecil Brooks III (who doubles as the disc’s producer), the alto saxophonist displays his fluency in frameworks ranging from bebop to free jazz. Williams plays with a maturity that enables him to put his personal stamp on every track.

A hip, ...

Read more articles

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Unalome

Smoke Sessions Records
2023

buy

Found Sounds

Self Produced
2020

buy

Altoicity

Savant Records
2001

buy

Tayamisha

From: Unalome
By Bruce Williams

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.