Home » Jazz Musicians » Mars Williams

Mars Williams

Mars Williams is one of the finest saxophone players of his generation whose eclecticism has become a trademark. "In many ways he has succeeded in redefining what versatility means to the modern saxophone player," said John Zorn in 1983. Williams' subsequent forays would keep on proving him right. From his days with the Waitresses and Psychedelic Furs to Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble and various collaborations with Ken Vandermark to his success with acid jazz Liquid Soul, Williams has indeed covered a lot of ground. Mars Williams was born in Chicago in 1955 and his father used to play the trumpet. Fond of Benny Goodman and Dixieland, he encouraged his son to pick up the clarinet at age 10, an instrument he would stick to through high-school and college. He would, however, switch to the saxophone (alto first) after realizing that clarinet would not allow him to play the music he had a real interest in. Dissatisfied with college education which would inexorably lead him to a music teacher career, he decided to head for Woodstock and the Creative Music Workshop run by Karl Berger and where he met Roscoe Mitchell and studied with Don Cherry, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Anthony Braxton. Students in his class included Marilyn Crispell, Peter Apfelbaum and Ton Cora, among others. Once his training completed, he moved to Colorado for an introspective period. During his almost two-year stay, he only hooked up with trumpeter Hugh Ragin and saxophonist Spider Middleman who would end up following Williams when he decided to go back to Chicago. There, his next major encounter would be in the person of Hal Russell. Playing with top-40 bands and Hal Russell - with whom he formed the NRG Ensemble - was Williams' musical spectrum during what ended up to be a short intermission in his hometown. Then, Middleman left for Los Angeles and Williams returned to Woodstock with the help of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts while remaining in touch with Russell. The two of them recorded Eftsoons in 1981 that Nessa Records released three years later. While in Woodstock, Williams joined the Swollen Monkeys with Ralph Carney (Tom Waits) and Kramer (Shimmy-disc honcho) among others. The short-lived outfit recorded a full-length album and an EP before disbanding in 1981. At that point, Williams had moved to New York. There, a career- defining moment occurred when he joined the Waitresses instead of being hired by Michael Mantler for the Carla Bley Band. Wiliams played an important part in defining the sound of the period; a new -wave where the saxophone has a new role in music harmonics and brings atonality to the fore. A full-time member of the new-wave outfit until they disbanded in 1984, Williams also branched out to some of the many opportunities New York had to offer, playing with John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Elliott Sharp and even Australian maverick Daevid Allen. In 1984, Mars Williams was asked to replace Gary Windo in the Psychedelic Furs for their Australian tour. This short stint turned out to be a full-time position. Meanwhile, Williams continued to further his activities in the realm of rock though collaborations with Billy Idol, Ministry, Billy Squire and Power Station (with the late Robert Palmer) until he decided to call it quits, the rock n' roll lifestyle and New York's fast pace having taken a toll on him. Once again, Mars Williams headed back to Chicago where he immediately renewed his partnership with Hal Russell and joined the NRG Ensemble. The special chemistry that bound Williams and Russell allowed the NRG Ensemble to reach the peak of its powers, which culminated with a record deal with ECM ("The Finnish/Swiss Tour" and "The Hal Russell Story.") During his tenure with Russell's band, Williams played as a sideman in various bands around the city. This is also the time Williams started to focus more on his writing. The passing of Hal Russell in 1992 would leave a void in Williams's life, but true to his words, Williams pursued the NRG Ensemble with the addition of Ken Vandermark. This was to be the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration between the two reed players. At that time, Williams entered one of his most creative periods trying to establish a new scene in Chicago and launching several concurrent projects: Slam, Cinghiale, Witches and Devils (the last two including Vandermark). He also became an original member of the Vandermark 5 in 1996 and of the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Octet (then Tentet.) Meanwhile, Williams pursued other musical interests with Ministry and Die Warsaw but also with his own bands, successively The Action Figures, Act of God and, more importantly, Liquid Soul, a group that originated from weekly jam sessions at the Double Door in Chicago. Liquid Soul pioneered the acid jazz movement. With their punchy horns, hot and aggressive grooves and solos, they also defined the acid jazz sound of the Midwest. Created in 1993 with guitarist Tommy Klein and DJ De La Peña, the acid jazz combo would enjoy great success touring heavily worldwide, performing at President Clinton's second inauguration, opening for Sting at Madison Square Garden and Central Park, introducing the acid jazz sound to major jazz festivals such as Newport and obtaining a Grammy nomination (Best Contemporary Jazz Album category) in 2000 for their third album, "Here's the Deal." After a fourth album, Williams took a sabbatical from Liquid Soul in early 2003, then reformed the band in 2005 and released the new CD "One-Two Punch" for Telarc records in May 2006. Williams has since remained active, writing a lot of new material for his new projects. XMARSX is a hard-edged combo featuring Wayne Kramer (ex-MC5), Greg Suran (Goo Goo Dolls), David Suycott (Stabbing Westward), Fred Lonberg-Holm (Witches and Devils), and Kent Kessler (Vandermark 5, Witches and Devils, Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, etc.). Atavistic released their self- titled album in 2002. He has also formed "Mushroom Massive," a project derived from Liquid Soul but incorporating more improvisational and trance-like elements. The band currently includes DJ Cappo, Tommy Klein, David Suycott and Kent Kessler. Most recently, The Moers Festival in Germany picked Williams as their featured artist for its 2004 edition. Williams presented a new version of Liquid Soul (Tommy Klein, DJ The Dirty MF, DJ Logic, among others,) XMARSX, and the ambitious and ground-breaking "Soul Sonic Circus," an ambitious combination of free-improvised music and circus. The project features The Midnight Circus, a Chicago-based company that focuses on aerial acrobatics and incorporates theatrical elements in its performances, and an all-star band including Wayne Kramer, Greg Suran, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, Rob Wasserman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jim Baker, Hugh Ragin, DJ Logic and, of course, ringmaster Williams.

Read more

Tags

4
Radio & Podcasts

Mars Williams, Bro / Danielsson / Mazur & Andreas Willers

Read "Mars Williams, Bro / Danielsson / Mazur & Andreas Willers" reviewed by Maurice Hogue


There's a noticeable tilt towards new European releases in this episode, highlighted by Danish guitarist Jakob Bro with two of his idols, trumpeter Palle Danielsson & percussionist Marilyn Mazur for a new album, Strands; German guitarist Andreas Willers and his trio Derek Plays Eric, ratchet up the heat on their latest; Aut Records sent along new releases by Norwegian bassist Dan Peter Sundland, German pianist Max Arsava& Piergiorgio Pirro, a pianist from Italy. From South America, Argentina's saxophonist Matias Formica ...

9
Album Review

Mars Williams: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4: Chicago vs. NYC

Read "An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4: Chicago vs. NYC" reviewed by Mark Corroto


For more than a decade, Mars Williams has been making (to borrow a phrase) Christmas music great again. He does so by exchanging the saccharine for the sublime, intersecting holiday classics with the music of Albert Ayler. Born out of his Chicago Ayler repertory band which can be heard on Witches And Devils At The Empty Bottle</em> (Knitting Factory Records, 2000), Williams applied the Gospel and spiritual nature of Ayler's methodology to Xmas music. While the eponymously titled first volume ...

2
Album Review

Mars Williams / Vasco Trilla: Spiracle

Read "Spiracle" reviewed by John Sharpe


Both American reedman Mars Williams and Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla show themselves well grounded in the duet configuration, although this appears to be only Williams' second documented encounter in the sole company of a drummer. For Trilla, the situation is more normal. His track record embraces pairings with a wide array of wind instrumentalists (as well as brass and strings), including Mikolaj Trzaska, Martin Kūchen and Yedo Gibson. Although they hail from different backgrounds as well as ...

1
Album Review

Boneshaker: Fake Music

Read "Fake Music" reviewed by Mark Corroto


The trio of saxophonist Mars Williams, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love have taken the fitting name Boneshaker--a word coined to describe the early velocipede, what we today the bicycle. The moniker was appropriate because the bike's wheels (before the use of rubber tires) were made of wood, making the ride extremely uncomfortable. So why ride this instrument of torture? Because the pain always generated pleasure when you hit a smooth piece of tarmac and felt the sun on ...

5
Album Review

Mars Williams: An Ayler Xmas Volume 2

Read "An Ayler Xmas Volume 2" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Recently, a major motion picture studio remade the 1967 animation classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, starring the voice of Boris Karloff. You might remember the animated cartoon was based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. The 21st century's computer-animation is an abomination, an insult to our childhood innocence, just as the Jim Carrey film from 2000 was. Now, before you take up arms or plan an Occupy Wall Street demonstration, I'm here to tell you ...

Read more articles

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jon Wirtz and Nuskool, Darin Gray with Mars Williams and Tyler Damon, Dave Dickey Big Band, and More

Jazz This Week: Jon Wirtz and Nuskool, Darin Gray with Mars Williams and Tyler Damon, Dave Dickey Big Band, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Along with the return of something resembling more typical St. Louis weather for this time of year, this late-summer weekend offers an eclectic selection of live jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, the Denver based pianist Jon Wirtz and his trio Nuskool will be in town to perform at Robbie's House of Jazz. Wirtz (pictured) is doing some Midwest dates in support of his recently released album Tourist, which covers territory ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Spiracle

Not Two Records
2020

buy

An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4:...

Astral Spirits
2020

buy

Fake Music

Soul What Records
2019

buy

An Ayler Xmas Volume 2

Soul What Records/ESP Disk
2018

buy

Chicago Edge Ensemble...

Lizard Breath Records
2017

buy

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

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