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Claude Williamson

Claude Williamson - piano Born Claude Berkeley Williamson, 18 November 1926, Brattleboro, Vermont, USA. After studying piano formally at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, Williamson turned to playing jazz in the late 40s. He first worked with Charlie Barnet, where he was featured on "Claude Reigns", then with Red Norvo and also briefly led his own small group. In the early 50s he toured with Bud Shank before settling in Los Angeles, where he led a trio for many years. He played too with Tal Farlow, appeared in the second edition of the Lighthouse All-Stars with Shank, Rolf Ericson, Bob Cooper and Max Roach, and recorded with Art Pepper. Among Williamson's better-known compositions is "Aquarium", recorded by the All-Stars in 1954. His trio work kept him busy but musically static for several years. However, in the late 70s and early 80s he toured Japan and the records he made there spurred his career. Although he began as mainstream player, Williamson later adapted to bop and most of his subsequent work reflects this interest. Although little known on the international scene, Japan apart, his work bears much closer attention than it has usually enjoyed. His brother Stu Williamson was a jazz trumpeter.

Source: Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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Obituary

Claude Williamson 1926-2016

Claude Williamson 1926-2016

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Claude Williamson, a piano mainstay of jazz in California for seven decades, died on July 16 in Los Angeles. He had been in decline since he fell in his home in 2015 and broke a hip. After Williamson moved from Boston to L.A. in 1947, he played with Charlie Barnet’s band for two years and was the featured soloist on the widely popular recording “Claude Reigns.” Barnet named the piece after him. Williamson’s harmonic sophistication and responsive timing made him ...

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Obituary

Claude Williamson (1926-2016)

Claude Williamson (1926-2016)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Claude Williamson, a West Coast jazz pianist who was deeply influenced by the bebop piano of Bud Powell and was perhaps the last surviving member of the Lighthouse All Stars, often unleashing centipede-like speed on the keyboard along with sinewy improvisational lines, died July 16. He was 89. His son, Marc, said last night that his father never fully recovered from a bad fall in February 2015 and had been in hospice care for about a year. Like many jazz ...

Recording

Claude Williamson: Kenton Presents

Claude Williamson: Kenton Presents

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

In the very early 1950s, Los Angeles was awash in jazz pianists who could play with ferocious speed and delicate grace. The names that spring to mind include Russ Freeman, Marty Paich, Hampton Hawes, Dodo Marmarosa, Carl Perkins, Pete Jolly, Lorraine Geller, Victor Feldman, Sonny Clark and Jimmy Rowles. But perhaps the most overlooked member of this silky-swinger set is Claude Williamson. Back in 1954 and '55, Williams recorded two perfect trio albums for Capitol when Stan Kenton briefly headed ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Hallucinations

VSOP Records
1995

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Blue Minor -...

Interplay Records
1985

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New Departure

Elabeth
1978

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Holography

Le Chant du Monde
1977

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Claude Williamson

Le Chant du Monde
1956

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In Italy

Le Chant du Monde
0

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