Richard Williams (musician)

Richard Gene Williams (May 4, 1931 – November 4, 1985) was an American jazz trumpeter.

Biography
Williams was born in Galveston, Texas, and played tenor saxophone early in his life before picking up trumpet as a teenager. He played in local Texas bands and attended Wiley College, where he majored in music. After serving in the Air Force from 1952 to 1956, he toured Europe with Lionel Hampton, and upon his return took a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music.

Williams played with Charles Mingus at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1959, and recorded with Mingus starting in that year. He recorded his only session as a leader, New Horn in Town (1960) for Candid Records, and featuring Reggie Workman, Leo Wright, Richard Wyands, and Bobby Thomas. Williams was a sideman on many releases for Blue Note, Impulse!, New Jazz, Riverside, and Atlantic in the 1960s. Among the musicians he worked with, apart from Mingus, are Oliver Nelson, Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, Yusef Lateef, Gigi Gryce, and Duke Jordan and the big bands of Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Sam Rivers and Clark Terry.

He also found work on Broadway in pit orchestras, in particular the premiere productions of The Me Nobody Knows and The Wiz. He appears on the original Broadway cast recordings of both musicals. Williams also led bands under his own leadership, playing in New York jazz clubs such as Sweet Basil, the Village Vanguard, and Gerald's. In addition to jazz trumpet, Williams also performed with classical orchestras, playing piccolo trumpet and fluglehorn.

Williams died on November 4, 1985, from kidney cancer in his Jamaica, New York home, at the age of 54.

As leader

 * New Horn in Town (Candid, 1960)

As sideman
With Ahmed Abdul-Malik With Mose Allison With Jaki Byard With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis With Booker Ervin With Bill Evans and George Russell With Red Garland With Gigi Gryce With Slide Hampton With John Handy With Noah Howard With Sam Jones With Duke Jordan With Rahsaan Roland Kirk With Yusef Lateef With Les McCann With Jack McDuff With Charles McPherson With Carmen McRae With Charles Mingus With Mingus Dynasty With Oliver Nelson With John Patton With Jimmy Smith With The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra With Charles Tolliver With Randy Weston With Leo Wright With Max Roach
 * Sounds of Africa (New Jazz, 1961)
 * Hello There, Universe (Atlantic, 1970)
 * Out Front! (Prestige, 1964)
 * Trane Whistle (Prestige, 1960)
 * Cookin' (Savoy, 1960)
 * The In Between (Blue Note, 1968)
 * Living Time (Columbia, 1972)
 * Soul Burnin' (Prestige, 1960)
 * Rediscovered Masters (Prestige, 1977)
 * Saying Somethin'! (New Jazz, 1960)
 * The Hap'nin's (New Jazz, 1960)
 * The Rat Race Blues (New Jazz, 1960)
 * Reminiscin' (Mercury, 1960)
 * Doin' the Gigi (Uptown, 2011)
 * Sister Salvation (Atlantic, 1960)
 * Somethin' Sanctified (Atlantic, 1960)
 * Drum Suite (Epic, 1962)
 * Exodus (Philips, 1962 [1964])
 * In the Vernacular (Roulette, 1958)
 * Red Star (Boxholder, 2001)
 * Something New (Interplay, 1979)
 * Duke's Delight (SteepleChase, 1975)
 * The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets the Benny Golson Orchestra (Mercury, 1964)
 * Left & Right (Atlantic, 1968)
 * Other Folks' Music (Atlantic 1976)
 * The Centaur and the Phoenix (Riverside, 1960)
 * Jazz 'Round the World (Impulse!, 1963)
 * Live at Pep's (Impulse! 1964)
 * Comment (Atlantic, 1970)
 * The Fourth Dimension (Cadet, 1974)
 * Today's Man (Mainstream, 1973)
 * Something to Swing About (Kapp, 1959)
 * Mingus Dynasty (Columbia 1959)
 * Pre-Bird (Mingus Revisited) (Mercury 1961)
 * The Complete Town Hall Concert (Blue Note, 1962 [1994])
 * The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (Impulse!, 1963)
 * Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse!, 1963)
 * Reincarnation (Soul Note, SN1042, 1982)
 * Screamin' the Blues (New Jazz, NJ 8243, 1960)
 * The Way I Feel (Blue Note 1964)
 * With Hilton Ruiz
 * Excition (SteepleChase, 1977)
 * Steppin' Into Beauty (SteepleChase, 1977 [1982])
 * Hoochie Coochie Man (Verve, 1966)
 * Presenting Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra (Solid State, 1966)
 * Presenting Joe Williams and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, The Jazz Orchestra (Solid State, 1966)
 * Live at the Village Vanguard (Solid State, 1967)
 * The Big Band Sound of Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Featuring Miss Ruth Brown (Solid State, 1968)
 * Monday Night (Solid State, 1968)
 * Central Park North (Solid State, 1969)
 * Music Inc. (Strata-East, 1971)
 * Impact (Strata-East, 1975)
 * Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960)
 * Blues Shout (Atlantic, 1960)
 * It's Time (Impulse!, 1962)