When Alto Was King

When Alto Was King is the final album recorded by American saxophonist C. I. Williams released in 1997 on the Mapleshade label a quarter century after his previous album.

Reception
AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars stating "this superb-sounding album is a fitting showcase for Williams' alto talents". In JazzTimes Willard Jenkins wrote "Mr. Williams has a buttery tone that is delivered with authority and the veteran's sense of relaxed swing. His tone bending, for example, is done very subtly and with a knowingness that never announces the arrival of the next bended note. He plays it with a liquidity and fluid sense of phrasing that makes every piece a study in elegance".

Track listing
All compositions by C. I. Williams except as indicated
 * 1) "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (Cole Porter) - 5:12
 * 2) "Punkin Juice" - 5:45
 * 3) "'Round Midnight" (Thelonious Monk) - 8:08
 * 4) "Catfish Sammich" - 4:57
 * 5) "Misty" (Erroll Garner) - 5:57
 * 6) "Lover Man" (Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, James Sherman) - 6:32
 * 7) "Because of You" (Arthur Hammerstein, Dudley Wilkinson) - 3:29
 * 8) "Jeep's Blues" (Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges) - 6:55
 * 9) "I'll Close My Eyes" (Buddy Kaye, Billy Reid) - 5:03
 * 10) "Avalon" (Buddy DeSylva, Al Jolson, Vincent Rose) - 2:37
 * 11) "Precious Lord" (Thomas A. Dorsey) - 2:07

Personnel

 * C. I. Williams - alto saxophone
 * Larry Willis - piano (tracks 1-7, 10 & 11)
 * Don Blackman - piano (tracks 8 & 9)
 * Ed Cherry - guitar
 * Keter Betts - bass
 * Jimmy Cobb - drums