Jazz man Buster Williams has worked with the best in his profession. Better to ask the 69-year-old bass player who he hasn’t performed with.
“There are always good people to play with,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with lots of great musicians coming up and we have wonderful musicians of my era who are still around.”
And what he brings to Blues Alley Thursday through Sunday night is the straight-ahead style and experience of an artist who has collaborated with jazz luminaries such as Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Freddie Hubbard and both Wynton and Branford Marsalis.
| Onstage |
| Buster Williams |
| » Where: Blues Alley Jazz, Supper Club, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW |
| » When: 8 and 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday |
| » Info: $25; bluesalley.com; 202-337-4141 |
“Blues Alley is my special place. I’ve worked there so many times [and] I like the intimacy,” he noted.
Joining him in the up close and intimate venue will be the members of his quartet, Something More, that features Mark Gross on alto and soprano saxophones, Mulgrew Miller at the piano and Cindy Blackman-Santana at the drums. The group made its debut in 1990.
In reference to a 30-year-long career as a sideman, Williams once said, “I’ve served my apprenticeship under many great masters and feel that it’s my honor and privilege to carry on the lineage that makes this music such an artistically rich art form.”
Twenty years after the inception of Something More, the quartet is still touring. Engagements in Europe have included the first International Jazz Festival in Moscow. They have also traveled to Japan and Australia and continue with their innumerable gigs throughout the United States.
The quartet’s Blues Alley performances will abound in Williams’ original music from his myriad albums, including “Griot Liberte” and his “Live Volume 1.”
“You may hear some standards, but I’m not going to give that away,” said Williams, who began music lessons at an early age.
“My dad played the bass and he was my teacher,” he continued. “It was part of his raison d’etre, I would say, to make sure everything I did was correct. He did it correctly and that’s the way he passed it on.”
Even now, Buster Williams sees his music as a journey toward perfection — that is, if one wishes to be called an artist worthy of a following.
“My favorite phrase to the audience is, ‘I trust we’ve served you well,'” he said.
