Cootie Williams

Jazz musician

• Born: July 24, 1910
• Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama
• Died: September 15, 1985
• Place of death: Queens, New York

Williams was a well-known trumpeter who performed with several high-profile jazzmen, including Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington. His collaboration with Ellington produced some of Williams’s most famous work, including several albums and compositions of his own using members of Ellington’s orchestra.

Early Life

Charles Melvin Williams was born on July 24, 1910, in Mobile, Alabama. He began performing music at an early age, and when he was fourteen, he began playing professionally with the Young Family Band. The band included esteemed saxophonist and clarinetist Lester Willis Young, a popular jazz musician who reached the height of his fame in the 1930’s through the 1950’s. Williams also performed with Johnny Pope and Holman’s Jazz Band. When Williams was fifteen, he moved to Pensacola, Florida, where he joined a jazz group led by Calvin Shields.

Williams’s career began to take off when he moved to New York City in 1928. In New York, he recorded with pianist James P. Johnson, a jazz composer, and performed in bands with Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. Webb was a bandleader and swing drummer, while Henderson was a pianist and composer who led one of the most influential African American orchestras of the time.

Life’s Work

Williams’s work with these composers and bandleaders brought him acclaim. In 1929, he began performing with legendary bandleader Duke Ellington, replacing Ellington’s previous saxophonist, Bubber Miley. Williams continued to perform with Ellington for eleven years. Ellington was so impressed with his work that he allowed Williams to use members of the band in his own recordings. These recordings were released under the names Cootie Williams and His Rug Cutters or the Cootie Williams Orchestra. Williams also did freelance work outside Ellington’s big band.

In 1940, Williams left Ellington to join Benny Goodman’s orchestra. Two years earlier, in 1938, Williams had played with Goodman in a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. The stint with Goodman was short, however; Williams soon asked to go back to Ellington’s band, but he eventually was persuaded to start his own band. The move was a success, as Williams was able to gather talented musicians such as Charlie Parker and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis in his group. The orchestra held its first performance in Chicago in 1942.

When the big band era began to wane around the end of the decade, however, so did Williams’s career. He scaled down his full orchestra to a sextet and began concentrating on rhythm and blues instead of swing. In 1952, Williams reunited with Ellington. He remained with the band through Ellington’s death in 1974 and continued to perform, even making an appearance at the Super Bowl IX halftime show the next year. Williams died on September 15, 1985, in Queens, New York.

Significance

Williams was known for playing in a distinctive, fierce “jungle” style and for his use of the plunger mute. He also sang on some of Ellington’s recordings, such as “Echoes of the Jungle.” Although he is best remembered as a member of Ellington’s famous band, he also was a noted artist in his own right. In 1991, Williams was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

Barnhart, Scotty. The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History and Practical Philosophy. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard, 2005. Offers an overview and analysis of Williams’s musical style and career.

Duffy, Timothy.“Cootie Williams.” In Music Makers: Portraits and Songs of the Roots of America. Athens, Ga.: Hill Street Press, 2002. Profile of Williams in the context of jazz history. Illustrated, with a compact disc.

Hasse, John Edward. Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, March 22, 1995. Because Williams was such an integral part of Ellington’s orchestra, this source provides insight into his environment and influences.