Williams James / Irwin Dennis
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Label: Red Records
Genre: Jazz / Avant Garde
Availability
- CD €19.99 In Stock
A gifted musician, Williams, at only twenty-two years of age, became a teacher at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His mastery at the keyboard did not go unnoticed in the eyes of a talent scout like Blakey who, after two initial rejections, finally managed to recruit him for his Jazz Messengers. Williams’ collaboration with Blakey would develop steadily over the next ten years.
Six months before Williams came to his court, Blakey had also recruited bassist Dennis Irwin, a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He had played with Red Garland before moving to New York in 1974, where he had worked with Ted Curson, Mose Allison, Betty Carter and many others, knowing that his own artistic growth ‘…would come from taking every opportunity to play’. Irwin kept to the rule he had given himself and, in the course of his activity, participated as a sideman in the production of over five hundred records.
The duo recorded a total of five tracks for Red Records, one of which was signed by Williams, two by Irwin and two standards.