Cootie Williams

Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues,<ref name="Music">Template:Cite book</ref> and rhythm and blues trumpeter.

Biography

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young.<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> According to Williams he acquired his nickname as a boy when his father took him to a band concert. When it was over his father asked him what he'd heard and he replied, "Cootie, cootie, cootie."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson.<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290"/> Williams rose to prominence as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra when the band was playing at the Cotton Club, with which he first performed from 1929 to 1940.<ref name="LarkinJazz">Template:Cite book</ref> He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> Williams was renowned for his "jungle"-style trumpet playing (in the manner of Ellington's earlier trumpeter Bubber Miley<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> and trombonist Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton) and for his use of the plunger mute. He also sang occasionally, a notable instrumental feature being in the Ellington piece "Echoes of the Jungle".<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290"/> For him, Duke Ellington wrote ''Concerto for Cootie,'' which when lyrics were added became "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me". He was also the soloist in other Ellington compositions, such as "Echoes of Harlem", "Harlem Air Shaft", and the religious piece "The Shepherd Who Watches Over the Night Flock", which was dedicated to the Rev. John Gensel.<ref name="Fraser">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1940, Williams joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, a highly publicized move that caused quite a stir at the time,<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> (commemorated by Raymond Scott with the song "When Cootie Left the Duke"),<ref name="Classics">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> then in 1941 formed his own orchestra, in which over the years he employed Charlie Parker, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Bud Powell, Eddie Vinson, and other young players.<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290" /><ref name="Classics" />

In 1947, Williams wrote the song "Cowpox Boogie" while recuperating from a bout with smallpox. He contracted the disease from a vaccination he insisted all band members receive.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

By the late 1940s, Williams had fallen into obscurity, having had to reduce his band numbers and finally to disband.<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the 1950s, he began to play more rhythm and blues, toured with small groups, and played in the Savoy Ballroom.<ref name="Fraser" />

In the late 1950s, he formed a small jazz group and recorded a number of albums with Rex Stewart, as well as his own album, Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi (1958).<ref name="Robinson 1994 1290"/> In 1962, he rejoined Ellington and stayed with the orchestra until 1974, after Ellington's death.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In 1975, he performed during the Super Bowl IX halftime show. He was a 1991 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

Williams died in New York City on September 15, 1985, at the age of 74 from a kidney ailment. He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.

Discography

As leader

• Cootie Williams and His Orchestra 1941–1944 (Classics, 1995) --earliest solo recordings
• The Big Challenge (Jazztone, 1957)
• Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi (RCA Victor, 1958)
• Around Midnight (Jaro, 1959)
• Cootie (Decca, 1959)
• Porgy & Bess Revisited (Warner Bros., 1959)
• Do Nothing Till You Hear from ... Cootie (Warwick, 1960)
• The Solid Trumpet of Cootie Williams (Moodsville, 1962)

As sideman

• Duke Ellington, All Star Road Band Volume 2 (Doctor Jazz, 1985)
• Joya Sherrill, Joya Sherrill Sings Duke (20th Century Fox, 1965)

External links

• [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Allmusic biography]
• Template:IMDb name
• Cootie Williams recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• Official website of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame