WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.359 Imagine this scenario, if you will. It's 1969. 00:00:04.019 --> 00:00:06.339 Okay, setting the scene. Yeah, and the world 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:08.580 is just shifting on its axis, you know? Yeah. 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.900 You've got Woodstock, the moon landing, the absolute 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:13.980 height of the counterculture. A pretty wild time 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:17.120 to be alive. Exactly. And you are a young 20 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.809 -something musician. Living in London, you've 00:00:19.809 --> 00:00:22.070 been grinding in the local scene, playing pubs, 00:00:22.070 --> 00:00:24.370 making a little noise, but nothing global yet. 00:00:24.550 --> 00:00:26.989 Right. So you decide to take a quick two -week 00:00:26.989 --> 00:00:29.309 vacation to visit New York City. Just a vacation. 00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:31.910 Just a fortnight. You know, see the sights, sketch 00:00:31.910 --> 00:00:35.250 a vibe, maybe hear some heavyweights play at 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:37.329 the Village Vanguard. Sure, why not? You pack 00:00:37.329 --> 00:00:40.210 a light bag and you buy a return ticket. I feel 00:00:40.210 --> 00:00:41.990 like I know exactly where this is going. And 00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:43.909 I have a strong feeling that return ticket was 00:00:43.909 --> 00:00:46.030 a really bad investment. Oh, it was a terrible 00:00:46.030 --> 00:00:48.840 investment. Yeah. Because this guy. He never 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:51.039 used it. Wow. He went for a two -week holiday 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.979 and ended up basically accidentally becoming 00:00:53.979 --> 00:00:56.560 a legend of the American jazz scene. He literally 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.420 never moved back. You know, accidentally is a 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:02.000 strong word, but in this specific case, it really 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.640 fits. We are talking about David Williams. David 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.719 Happy Williams, exactly. Right. Born in 1946. 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:10.480 A Trinidadian double bassist. who, well, if you 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.319 look at the liner notes of some of the greatest 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.739 albums of the last 50 years, he is just everywhere. 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:17.980 He really is. But he's rarely the guy on the 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:20.560 front cover. Which is, honestly, the hallmark 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:23.180 of The Perfect Sideman. It's a fascinating story 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:25.239 of serendipity, but also, and we'll get into 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:27.700 this, immense preparation. Yes. We're pulling 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:30.879 from a bunch of biographical records today, his 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.760 extensive discography, and several interviews 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.379 to piece this whole journey together. And our 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:38.659 mission for this deep dive is pretty specific 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:41.680 for you guys listening. We want to trace how 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:45.459 a kid from Port of Spain moved from playing steel 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.519 pans in the schoolyard. To the upright bass. 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:49.659 Right, to becoming the absolute heartbeat of 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:52.060 the Cedar Walton Tria. A legendary group. And 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:55.280 somehow landing a song in a classic Eddie Murphy 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:58.379 movie along the way. It really is a masterclass 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:01.980 in the concept of the versatile sideman. You 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:03.859 know, that musician who can connect distinct 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:07.019 worlds. Like Calypso, soul, hard bop. Exactly. 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:11.819 But who often just flies totally under the radar 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.500 of the general public. So let's unpack this. 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:17.379 We have to start in Trinidad, right? We do. Because 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:19.039 you don't just wake up with that kind of innate 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:22.020 rhythm. That has to be baked in from the start. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:25.270 Right. So David Larry Williams was born in Woodbrook, 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:29.439 Port of Spain, in September 1946. And when we 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.039 say music was in his blood, we aren't just throwing 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.740 around a cliche here. No, no. His father was 00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:37.699 John Williams, known as Buddy Williams. And for 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:39.699 those listening who might not be deep into the 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:42.580 history of Trinidadian music, who exactly was 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:45.120 Buddy Williams? He was a massive deal. In the 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.620 1940s and 50s, Buddy Williams was a bass player 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:49.580 himself, and he was one of the best -known band 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:52.479 leaders in all of Trinidad. Oh, wow. So David 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.620 grew up watching his father literally command 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:56.659 the stage. He wasn't just hearing music around 00:02:56.659 --> 00:02:58.569 the house. He was seeing the business. of it. 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:01.960 The actual profession. Exactly. He saw the discipline 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.840 required to lead a band and to hold down the 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.300 low end night after night. That has to set a 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.500 certain standard in the household. You're not 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:11.400 just banging on pots and pans. You're watching 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.939 a true professional operate. Well, actually, 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:16.080 he sort of was banging on pans at first. Oh, 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:18.639 really? Yeah. David started super young, around 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.939 five years old. He began on piano, moved to violin, 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:25.460 and being in Trinidad, he obviously gravitated 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:27.680 toward the steel pan. The steel pan connection 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:30.500 is so cool to me. The source material mentions 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:33.300 he played pan in a group called the Invader Steel 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:36.379 Band as a teenager. Yes. Which, by the way, is 00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:38.719 just a fantastic name for a band. It's legendary 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:40.979 down there. But think about the musical training 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:43.960 that gives you early on. The steel pan is a percussive 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.759 instrument, sure, but it's highly melodic. And 00:03:46.759 --> 00:03:49.159 very syncopated. Incredibly syncopated. You learn 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.819 to feel rhythm in a very forward, driving way. 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.699 It's so different from learning, say, classical 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:57.800 piano, where you might be counting strictly from 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.520 sheet music. Right. It's more visceral. Pan is 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.479 all about the feel, the groove. So he has this 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:07.240 rhythmic DNA just locked in. But when does the 00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:09.819 upright bass actually come into the picture? 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:13.120 Because carrying a steel pan is one thing. Hauling 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.979 a double bass around an island is a major commitment 00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:18.970 for a kid. It is. The pivot point, the moment 00:04:18.970 --> 00:04:21.430 his career really begins to take its true shape, 00:04:21.529 --> 00:04:24.550 is at age 12. Okay. He was attending the Tranquility 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:27.350 Boys School in Port of Spain, and that is where 00:04:27.350 --> 00:04:30.269 he switched to the bass in earnest. So literally 00:04:30.269 --> 00:04:32.730 following in his dad's footsteps. Precisely. 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:35.089 Picking up his father's instrument. But he didn't 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:37.389 stay in Trinidad for long. This is where the 00:04:37.389 --> 00:04:39.389 story gets international very quickly. Right, 00:04:39.430 --> 00:04:42.170 1962. Yeah, in 62, his sister got a scholarship 00:04:42.170 --> 00:04:45.360 to study piano in London. So he just tags along. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.779 Essentially, yeah. He moved to join her, and 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:49.939 he actually enrolled at the London College of 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.259 Music. Formal training. He studied there for 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:55.120 a year. But what is really fascinating is his 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.199 mindset during this whole London era. He wasn't 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:00.420 just a student sitting in a stuffy practice room 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.500 working on scales all day. All right, I found 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:04.939 this quote from him about that specific time 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:07.500 that's just really telling. He said, and I'm 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:10.790 paraphrasing a bit, he said, I started getting 00:05:10.790 --> 00:05:13.250 offers and gigs. I was working in nightclubs, 00:05:13.250 --> 00:05:15.589 you know, wherever I could play. Pubs, it didn't 00:05:15.589 --> 00:05:18.550 matter. And I had this desire, this thing, to 00:05:18.550 --> 00:05:21.470 just get out there and play. That is the hustle. 00:05:21.649 --> 00:05:25.009 That hustle absolutely defines his early career. 00:05:25.230 --> 00:05:27.670 Just playing anywhere. London in the 60s was 00:05:27.670 --> 00:05:30.060 vibrant, but it was tough. You're playing in 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:32.040 these smoky pubs where the piano is probably 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.579 completely out of tune, the acoustics are terrible, 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.699 and the crowd might be, well, rowdy. Very rowdy. 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:40.220 You have to learn to project your sound organically. 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:42.639 You have to learn to be the anchor when everything 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:44.959 else around you is chaotic. It's basically boot 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.300 camp for a rhythm section player. Exactly. He 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:49.199 wasn't sitting around waiting for the perfect, 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.819 pristine venue. He was building the hours, earning 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:55.939 his stripes. And that work ethic is exactly why, 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:58.199 when he took that fateful trip to New York in 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:01.040 1960, He was ready for what happened next. Yeah. 00:06:01.100 --> 00:06:04.120 Okay, so let's get back to that trip. The two 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.240 -week vacation that never ended. He lands in 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:12.160 NYC. He's just visiting. He's a tourist. How 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.160 does he go from tourist to working New York musician 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.899 so fast? It happened in a flash. It's one of 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:19.680 those stories that honestly sounds scripted for 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.040 a movie. Right. He went to a gig just to watch. 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:24.879 It was a group featuring Beaver Harris on drums 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:27.819 and Grashen Moncur on trombones. Serious players. 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:30.620 Very serious avant -garde players. Right. But 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:32.800 they had a major problem that night. Their bass 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.759 player wasn't there. Wait, they just didn't show 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:37.560 up. Or they were late, or they desperately needed 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:40.259 a cell at the last minute. The historical details 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:43.279 are a bit hazy on the exact reason, but the result 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.939 is jazz history. Wow. David Williams had his 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:49.139 bass, or he borrowed one, and he just stepped 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:50.879 up to sit in. And he wasn't just subbing for 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.839 some random local guy, right? Who was he filling 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:55.920 in for? This is the crazy part. He was subbing 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.980 for Jimmy Garrison. Jimmy Garrison? Yes. As in 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:02.139 the bassist for the classic John Coltrane quartet? 00:07:02.180 --> 00:07:04.680 The very same. The man who played on A Love Supreme? 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:06.839 Okay, we need to pause on that for a second for 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.680 the listeners. Jimmy Garrison wasn't just a bass 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:13.060 player. He was a sheer force of nature. Absolutely. 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:16.480 He played with this massive drone -like intensity. 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:20.720 He held down the low end while Coltrane basically 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.000 went to outer space. That's a great way to put 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.600 it. So imagine the pressure. You are 23 years 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.199 old, fresh off the boat from London. On vacation. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.180 On vacation. And you are stepping into the shoes 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:34.360 of the man holding down the low end for Coltrane's 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:37.040 drummer. If you choke there. You're done. You 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:39.259 are absolutely done. New York musicians can be 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:41.800 ruthless. If you can't swing, if you can't keep 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:44.680 up, you get walked off the stage. Period. But 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:47.060 Williams didn't choke. He didn't. He clearly 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:49.540 had the chops and, maybe more importantly, the 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:52.439 confidence. The fallout from that single night 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:54.939 was immediate. People noticed. Oh, they noticed. 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:57.300 He started getting offered work right away. He 00:07:57.300 --> 00:07:59.560 realized pretty quickly, I can't go back to London. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.040 The work is here. The energy is here. And he 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:03.620 had some heavy hitters in his corner right off 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:05.879 the bat, too. The sources mention Ron Carter 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.060 actually gave him leads. Yes, he did. And getting 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:12.240 the nod from Ron Carter is like. being knighted 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.779 in the bass world. Seriously. Carter is arguably 00:08:14.779 --> 00:08:18.180 the most recorded bassist in jazz history. For 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:20.759 him to take an interest in a young Williams and 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:23.379 start passing him gigs, that is the ultimate 00:08:23.379 --> 00:08:26.079 seal of approval. It's the keys to the city. 00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:28.660 It really is. Through those connections, he started 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:31.100 working with people like Gap Mangione and Chuck 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.019 Mangione. Which is wild. One minute you're a 00:08:33.019 --> 00:08:34.860 tourist, the next minute Ron Carter is handing 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:37.879 you gigs. But here is where it gets really interesting 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:40.730 to me. looking at his trajectory, he didn't just 00:08:40.730 --> 00:08:43.470 get stuck in the traditional jazz box. No, not 00:08:43.470 --> 00:08:46.330 at all. He moves to Washington, D .C., and takes 00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:49.769 a hard left turn into soul and R &B. Which really 00:08:49.769 --> 00:08:52.090 speaks to his versatility. He spent two years 00:08:52.090 --> 00:08:55.149 as the bass player for Roberta Flack. Roberta 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:57.509 Flack. Killing me softly, that Roberta Flack. 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:00.009 Yeah, correct. And during that same period, he 00:09:00.009 --> 00:09:01.850 was working with the soul legend Donny Hathaway, 00:09:01.909 --> 00:09:05.600 too. Yeah. Now... Musically speaking, how different 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.320 is that? Going from subbing for Jimmy Garrison, 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.860 which is high intensity avant -garde jazz, to 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:13.559 playing for Roberta Flack. It requires a completely 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:16.200 different kind of discipline. How so? Well, in 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.080 avant -garde jazz, you are conversing, you are 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:21.580 reacting in real time, you can change the harmony, 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.759 you can stretch the time. It's very free. Exactly. 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:27.960 But in soul music, especially with a powerhouse 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:31.200 vocalist like Flack, your job is the pocket. 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:33.580 A pocket. Yes, you have to lock in, you have 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:36.139 to play the perfect note in the perfect spot. 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:39.809 Every single time. No overplaying? None. You 00:09:39.809 --> 00:09:42.490 cannot step on the vocal. You have to be almost 00:09:42.490 --> 00:09:45.230 invisible, but absolutely essential to the groove. 00:09:45.490 --> 00:09:48.529 So he masters the pocket. And speaking of groove, 00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:50.830 this leads to my absolute favorite fact about 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:52.769 David Abbey Williams from our deep dive. Oh, 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:54.870 I know what this is. It is the connection I never 00:09:54.870 --> 00:09:57.090 saw coming. We have to talk about the movie Trading 00:09:57.090 --> 00:09:59.509 Places. I had a feeling you would zero in on 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:01.950 this part. I mean, how could I not? It is an 00:10:01.950 --> 00:10:04.889 80s classic. Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd. The whole 00:10:04.889 --> 00:10:07.850 stock market scene. So Williams releases an album 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:11.049 as a leader in 1979 called Soul is Free. Right. 00:10:11.129 --> 00:10:13.289 This was his first album as a leader and it was 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:16.049 released on AVI Records. And there's a track 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:18.289 on there called Out of the Sheets Into the Streets. 00:10:18.389 --> 00:10:21.289 Which is a great title. Fantastic title. And 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:23.610 somehow this track ends up in the soundtrack 00:10:23.610 --> 00:10:27.019 for Trading Places in 1983. It just shows the 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:29.700 immense range of the man. He isn't just a jazz 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:32.240 purist who refuses to engage with pop culture 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.600 or other genres. He has a track in a blockbuster 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.179 Hollywood comedy. It's this funky disco adjacent 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.399 track that just undeniably works. I love the 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:46.200 mental image of a serious jazz musician sitting 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:48.940 in a crowded movie theater watching Eddie Murphy 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:52.289 be hilarious and hearing his own bass line. pumping 00:10:52.289 --> 00:10:54.269 through the surround sound speakers. It's a great 00:10:54.269 --> 00:10:56.509 resume, Dolder, to say the least. He's backing 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:58.269 Roberta Flack. He's on a Hollywood soundtrack. 00:10:58.590 --> 00:11:00.610 But then, and this is the major pivot back me, 00:11:00.730 --> 00:11:04.710 he returns to the hardcore jazz world to join 00:11:04.710 --> 00:11:06.909 one of the most prestigious groups of the entire 00:11:06.909 --> 00:11:10.090 era. The Cedar Walton Trio. Yes. This is really 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:12.210 the defining era of his career, starting right 00:11:12.210 --> 00:11:15.370 around 1982. Set the stage for us here. Why was 00:11:15.370 --> 00:11:18.070 the Cedar Walton Trio such a massive deal? Because 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:19.769 to a casual listener, it might just sound like 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:22.659 another jazz group. Cedar Walton was a pianist 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:25.580 of immense, immense influence, deeply rooted 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:28.179 in hard bop with very sophisticated harmonies. 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:30.899 Okay. He came out of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:32.779 which, if you know jazz history, is basically 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:34.860 the University of Hard Bop. The proving ground. 00:11:35.059 --> 00:11:38.419 Exactly. The trio Walton formed was considered 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:41.480 the absolute gold standard. Jazz Journal actually 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.379 called them one of the most regarded trios in 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.549 contemporary acoustic jazz. They were so locked 00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:49.889 in, they were often called the Iron Triangle. 00:11:49.990 --> 00:11:52.690 The Iron Triangle. That is a heavy nickname. 00:11:53.090 --> 00:11:55.690 And Williams wasn't just a hired gun for a tour. 00:11:55.850 --> 00:11:58.529 He was a full member. He was a core member. He 00:11:58.529 --> 00:12:00.769 joined after the sad death of Sam Jones, who 00:12:00.769 --> 00:12:02.289 was another legend that Williams had actually 00:12:02.289 --> 00:12:04.929 subbed for previously. Subbing for legends seems 00:12:04.929 --> 00:12:07.169 to be his specialty. It really was. And in this 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:09.009 trio, he was playing alongside the brilliant 00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:11.230 drummer Billy Higgins. Now, the sources say he 00:12:11.230 --> 00:12:13.870 actually met Billy Higgins way back in 73. They 00:12:13.870 --> 00:12:16.769 had a long, established history. And that is 00:12:16.769 --> 00:12:18.970 crucial. The relationship between the bass and 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:21.909 the drums is the engine of any band. Right. Williams 00:12:21.909 --> 00:12:24.370 and Higgins had this almost telepathic connection. 00:12:24.830 --> 00:12:27.250 Let's geek out on that for a second. What does 00:12:27.250 --> 00:12:29.850 telepathic mean when you're talking about a rhythm 00:12:29.850 --> 00:12:32.090 section? Well, Billy Higgins was famously known 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:34.830 as the smiling drummer. I love that. He played 00:12:34.830 --> 00:12:37.690 with a lot of air in his sound. His ride cymbal 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:40.190 beat was dancing. It was almost light and effervescent. 00:12:40.250 --> 00:12:42.889 Okay. David Williams, on the other hand, provided 00:12:42.889 --> 00:12:45.950 the earth. His bass lines were big, thick, and 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:48.289 they sat right dead center in the beat. The anchor. 00:12:48.509 --> 00:12:50.750 Exactly. So you had Higgins dancing up on top 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:52.769 and Williams holding down the floor. When you 00:12:52.769 --> 00:12:54.889 have a rhythm section that locks in like that, 00:12:54.990 --> 00:12:58.149 literally every soloist in the world wants to 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:00.230 play with you. And looking at his resume as a 00:13:00.230 --> 00:13:02.169 sideman, it seems like everyone actually did 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:04.789 play with him. I'm looking at this list from 00:13:04.789 --> 00:13:08.549 the sources. Woody Shaw, Stan Getz. Dexter Gordon. 00:13:08.769 --> 00:13:11.169 The absolute giants of the saxophone. Freddie 00:13:11.169 --> 00:13:15.129 Hubbard on trumpet. Elvin Jones. Art Pepper. 00:13:15.309 --> 00:13:17.769 And then he's backing vocalists like Abby Lincoln 00:13:17.769 --> 00:13:20.970 and even the opera singer Kathleen Battle. It 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:23.610 is staggering. The breadth of that list is staggering. 00:13:23.870 --> 00:13:26.309 What is it about his specific playing? I mean, 00:13:26.350 --> 00:13:30.549 Stan Getz is very cool. Lyrical jazz. Heavy bossa 00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:33.710 nova influence. Right. But then Elvin Jones is 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:37.789 just intense. polyrhythmic fire. How does one 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:40.950 single guy fit both of those extremes perfectly? 00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:43.409 It comes back to that nickname he earned, Happy. 00:13:43.690 --> 00:13:46.210 He is known throughout the industry for being 00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:49.870 incredibly supportive. As a bassist, you really 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.889 have two main jobs. You define the harmony and 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:55.289 you define the time. Yeah. Williams did both 00:13:55.289 --> 00:13:57.529 of those things with such incredible solidity 00:13:57.529 --> 00:14:00.389 that the soloist always felt safe to go anywhere 00:14:00.389 --> 00:14:02.570 they wanted. He adapted to them. He didn't force 00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:05.190 his style on them? Never. If Elvin Jones wanted 00:14:05.190 --> 00:14:07.470 to push the tempo and make it aggressive, Williams 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:10.169 was right there digging in deep. If Stan Getz 00:14:10.169 --> 00:14:12.409 wanted to lay back and be super melodic, Williams 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:14.250 created the space for that. He wasn't trying 00:14:14.250 --> 00:14:15.889 to be the star. He was trying to make the music 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.289 work. That is a rare skill in itself. Just completely 00:14:18.289 --> 00:14:20.629 checking your ego at the door. Absolutely. The 00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:23.049 bassist is the navigation system of the band. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.679 If the bassist gets lost, the whole band crashes. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:27.779 And David Williams never got lost. He never got 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:31.519 lost. But later in his career, he did step into 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.240 the spotlight a bit more as a leader and in a 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.659 way that brought his whole journey full circle, 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:38.500 which I find really beautiful. We're talking 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:40.980 about the pan jazz era. Yeah, the pan jazz stuff. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.320 This feels like the moment where all the threads 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.159 we've been talking about finally come together. 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:47.559 Yes. Remember, he started on the steel pan as 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.539 a little kid in Trinidad. So after decades of 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:52.980 conquering the American jazz scene, playing in 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:55.659 the Iron Triangle, mastering hard bop and soul, 00:14:55.899 --> 00:14:59.240 he began to actively synthesize those two worlds. 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:02.320 I love when artists reach that point in their 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.279 career. It's like they're saying, I've learned 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:06.460 all your rules, I've mastered them, and now I'm 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:08.929 going to break them with my own. That is exactly 00:15:08.929 --> 00:15:11.090 what it is. He started writing and recording 00:15:11.090 --> 00:15:15.070 music that explicitly fused Trinidadian calypso 00:15:15.070 --> 00:15:17.570 and steel pan rhythms with the highly complex 00:15:17.570 --> 00:15:20.370 jazz language he had mastered with Cedar Walton. 00:15:20.549 --> 00:15:23.409 The key album we found here is called Read, Write, 00:15:23.490 --> 00:15:25.710 and Be Happy Right. That's the one, released 00:15:25.710 --> 00:15:28.690 in 2003. Recorded with Ron Reed and Orville Wright. 00:15:29.070 --> 00:15:31.289 Yeah, the title is a fun play on their names, 00:15:31.370 --> 00:15:34.529 obviously. Read, write, and be happy. But the 00:15:34.529 --> 00:15:38.149 music itself is this gorgeous hybrid. And looking 00:15:38.149 --> 00:15:41.129 at his discography as a leader during that time, 00:15:41.230 --> 00:15:44.000 you see titles like Ping -pong Obsession from 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:47.600 2001 and Rhythm of the Street from 2000, he is 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:50.000 really leaning hard into that rhythmic heritage. 00:15:50.340 --> 00:15:52.840 Ping -pong is actually an old local term for 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:54.980 a specific type of steel pan. Oh, I didn't know 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:57.840 that. Yeah, the tenor pan. So even in the album 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.600 titles, he's directly paying homage to the instrument 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.039 of his childhood. He proved that you don't have 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.299 to choose between being a serious, respected 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:08.600 American jazz musician and being a proud Trinidadian. 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:11.460 You can be both simultaneously. What does that 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:13.879 fusion actually sound like in practice? Is it 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:15.940 just traditional jazz with a steel drum playing 00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:17.820 the melody? It's much deeper than that. It's 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:20.419 about the underlying pulse. Calypso has a very 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.019 specific bounce to it. Like a groove? Yeah, a 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:25.080 two -beat feel that is very joyous and forward 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:27.779 -moving. Jazz, on the other hand, often relies 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:30.639 on a four -beat swing. Williams found a way to 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.759 make his bass lines dance like a calypso but 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:35.480 walk like a traditional jazz line. It creates 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.919 this incredibly infectious, happy groove, hence 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:42.220 the nickname. So let's take a step back and look 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:44.399 at the whole picture here. We have a guy who 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.940 starts in Port of Spain, hustles in smoky London 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:51.080 pubs as a teenager, accidentally breaks into 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.559 the highest echelon of the New York scene by 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.179 subbing for a Coltrane legend. Jimmy Garrison. 00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:58.360 Tours the country holding down the pocket for 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:01.120 Roberta Flack, anchors the Iron Triangle with 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.580 Cedar Walton, and ends up creating this beautiful 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:06.819 pan -jazz fusion. It is a remarkable unmatched 00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:10.099 trajectory from Woodbrook to Westminster to the 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:13.599 village vanguard. It really is. So what is your 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.299 big takeaway from the life of David Appie Williams? 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:18.339 If you had to... distill his entire career into 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:20.559 one lesson for us today, what would it be? For 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.259 me, it is entirely about the power of the foundation. 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:25.880 In our culture, we tend to obsess over the front 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.900 man, the singer, the fiery saxophone soloist, 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.740 the person standing directly in the spotlight. 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:33.259 But David Williams teaches us that the music 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:35.359 actually lives in the foundation. Without the 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.410 foundation, the house falls down. Exactly. Without 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:41.309 him, those Cedar Walton albums simply do not 00:17:41.309 --> 00:17:43.950 swing the way they do. Roberta Flack's grooves 00:17:43.950 --> 00:17:47.069 don't sit as deep. He proved that being the Sideman 00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:50.269 isn't about being secondary. It is actually about 00:17:50.269 --> 00:17:52.910 being the solid ground upon which the stars are 00:17:52.910 --> 00:17:56.089 able to stand. And he did all of it while fiercely 00:17:56.089 --> 00:17:58.650 maintaining his own unique cultural identity. 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:01.890 He held it down, whether it was for a jazz giant, 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:05.250 a soul legend, or an Eddie Murphy comedy. Precisely. 00:18:05.589 --> 00:18:08.190 He simply made everyone else sound better. So 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:10.329 here's a question for you listening right now. 00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:11.890 The next time you were putting on your favorite 00:18:11.890 --> 00:18:14.230 classic album. Whether it's a soul record, a 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:16.490 jazz masterpiece, or even watching an old movie. 00:18:16.710 --> 00:18:18.670 Stop listening to the melody for just a second. 00:18:18.869 --> 00:18:21.890 Ignore the lead singer. Ignore the blazing saxophone 00:18:21.890 --> 00:18:24.869 solo. Ask yourself, who is holding down the rhythm? 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:27.319 Who is locking in that low end and making your 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:30.279 head nod? And what incredible, unlikely, impossible 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:32.660 journey brought them to that specific recording 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:35.160 studio on that specific day? Because usually 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:37.460 the story behind the bass player in the shadows 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:40.000 is just as fascinating as the person holding 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.359 the microphone. Thanks for taking this deep dive 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.059 with us. Catch you next time.