The year 1960 remained ferociously busy for Williams on the recording front. There were more dates with Gryce, Wilkins, Handy, Hampton and Mingus as well as sessions behind Ruth Brown, Leo Wright, Oliver Nelson, Eddie Lockjaw" Davis, Yusef Lateef and Randy Weston.
Among the best tracks on New Horn in Town are Richard Wyands' Ferris Wheel and Williams' own Raucous Notes, Blues in a Quandry and Renita's Bounceall of which have a sweet-and-sour Horace Silver Quintet flavor. The standards hereI Can Dream Can't I?, I Remember Clifford and Over the Rainbowalso receive Williams' low-flame blow-torch technique.
Williams went on to record frequently in the '60s and '70s as a sideman and as a Broadway pit trumpeter, dying in 1985. Why he recorded only one leadership date remains a mystery. The answer may be that he was simply more comfortable in a supporting role than having the pressure of writing material, assembling groups and working out arrangements.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Richard Williams' New Horn
JazzWax clip: Here's Richard Williams playing Over the Rainbow from New Horn in Town...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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