David "Happy" Williams (born September 17, 1946), is a US-based Trinidadian jazz double-bassist, who was a long-time member of Cedar Walton's group. Williams has also worked with many other notable musicians, including Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Stan Getz, Kenny Barron, Duke Jordan, Monty Alexander, Frank Morgan, Hank Jones, Charles McPherson, Larry Willis, George Cables, Abdullah Ibrahim, David "Fathead" Newman, Sonny Fortune, John Hicks, Louis Hayes, Jackie McLean, Clifford Jordan, Abbey Lincoln, Ernestine Anderson, and Kathleen Battle.
Background and career David Larry Williams was born in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad.Ronald C. Emrit, "David Williams". Best of Trinidad. His father, John "Buddy" Williams,"Le Jazz Primitif from Trinidad - Rupert Clemendore and John Buddy Williams" (1961). Smithsonian Folkways. was a bass player and one of Trinidad's best-known bandleaders of the 1940s and 1950s.Herbie Miller, "Syncopating Rhythms: Jazz and Caribbean Culture", p. 24. David started playing music at the age of five, initially on piano, then violin and steelpan. He attended Tranquillity Boys School, Port of Spain, and at the age of 12 began playing bass in earnest. As a teenager, he played pan in the Invaders steelband.Ray Funk and Jeannine Remy, "Invaders: the pan yard under the breadfruit tree", Caribbean Beat, Issue 101 (January/February 2010). When his sister went to London on scholarship to study piano, David joined her there in 1962, studying bass for a year at the London College of Music. He recalls, "I started getting offers and gigs, I was working in nightclubs, you know, wherever I could play, pubs, it didn't matter, and I had this desire, this thing to just get out there and play."
Williams went to New York City in 1969 on what was intended to be a two-week visit but decided to stay on when he was offered work after sitting in on a gig with Beaver Harris featuring Grachan Moncur in place of Jimmy Garrison.Ethan Iverson, "Interview with David Williams (for Cedar Walton)" , Do the Math, November 11, 2013. Following leads from Ron Carter, Williams began working with Gap and Chuck Mangione, and then went to Washington, DC, where he became Roberta Flack's bass player for two years, also working with Donny Hathaway during that time.
Williams' first album as a leader, Soul is Free, was released in 1979; one of the compositions from it, "Out of the Sheets, Into the Streets", was used in the 1983 Eddie Murphy film Trading Places."Dave Williams Out of the sheets", 5 March 2011. YouTube.
In 1982 Williams became a member of the Cedar Walton Trio alongside Billy Higgins (whom Williams first met around 1973),Bill Milkowski, "Drum 'n' Bassists", JazzTimes, April 2000. on the death of Sam Jones, for whom he had occasionally subbed. They became, in the words of Jazz Journal: "One of the most regarded trios in contemporary acoustic Jazz".Mark Gilbert, Jazz Journal.
In more recent years, Williams has also written and recorded music inspired by Trinidadian steelpan and calypso, notably the "pan jazz" album Reid, Wright and be Happy (2003), alongside Ron Reid and Orville Wright.Mark Fraser, "Ron reads the music right", Trinidad Express, April 8, 2013.
Discography As leader Soul is Free (AVI Records, 1978) Up Front (Timeless, 1986) Duo (Red, 1990) with Cedar Walton [originally released as Off Minor] Rhythm of the Street (Rots Records, 2000) Ping Pong Obsession (Rots Records, 2001) The Prize (Rots Records, 2002) The Spirit (Rots Records, 2003) Reid, Wright and Be Happy (Sanch, 2003) The Message (Rots Records, 2004) Move Your Furniture (Rots Records, 2004) The Licentious Hour (Rots Records, 2005) Feel the Passion (featuring Frankie McIntosh; 2010)
As sideman With Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela Main Event Live (A&M, 1978) With Kenny Barron Peruvian Blue (Muse, 1974) Invitation (Criss Cross Jazz, 1991) Quickstep (Enja, 1991) With David Benoit Heavier Than Yesterday (AVI, 1977) With The Blackbyrds The Blackbyrds (Fantasy, 1973) With George Cables Old Wine New Bottles (Atlas, 1982) Wonderful L. A. (Atlas, 1982) With Michael Carvin Revelation (Muse, 1991) Each One Teach One (Muse, 1994) With Cyrus Chestnut A Million Colors in Your Mind (HighNote, 2015) With Freddy Cole Love Makes the Changes (Fantasy, 1998) With Charles Davis Ingia! (Strata-East, 1974) With Roberta Flack Children of The Night (Atlantic, 1970) With Sonny Fortune Monk's Mood (Kennox, 1993) With Steve Grossman Love is The Thing (Red Records, 1986) A Small Hotel (Dreyfus Jazz, 1993) With Slide Hampton Roots (Criss Cross, 1985) With Louis Hayes Breath of Life (Muse, 1974) With David Hazeltine Modern Standards (Sharp Nine, 2005) With Billy Higgins Billy Higgins Quintet (Sweet Basil, 1993) With Terumasa Hino Blue Smiles (Something Else, 1992) With Freddie Hubbard Bolivia (Music Masters, 1991) With Abdullah Ibrahim Water From an Ancient Well (Tiptoe, 1986) Mindif (Enja, 1988) With Jermaine Jackson Jermaine (Motown, 1980) With Elvin Jones The Main Force (Vanguard, 1974) New Agenda (Vanguard, 1975) With Sam Jones Cello Again (Xanadu, 1975) With Clifford Jordan Down Through the Years (Milestone, 1991) With Duke Jordan Murray Hill Caper (Spotlite, 1973) With Joyce Language and Love (Polygram, 1991) With David Lasley Missin' Twenty Grand (EMI, 1982) With Liberace My Friends Call Me Lee (AVI, 1978) With Warne Marsh Back Home (Criss Cross Jazz, 1986) With Jackie McLean Nature Boy (Something Else, 1999) With Charles McPherson But Beautiful (Venus Records, 2003) With James Moody, Clark Terry and Elvin Jones Summit Meeting (Vanguard, 1977) With Frank Morgan A Lovesome Thing (Antilles, 1991) With David "Fathead" Newman Heads Up (Atlantic, 1987) Fire! Live at the Village Vanguard (Atlantic, 1989) Davey Blue (HighNote, 2002) With One for All Killer Joe (Venus, 2005) With Art Pepper The Trip (Contemporary, 1976) Art Pepper with Duke Jordan in Copenhagen 1981 (Galaxy, 1981 ) with Duke Jordan Roadgame (Galaxy, 1981 ) Art Lives (Galaxy 1981 ) APQ (Galaxy, 1981 ) Arthur's Blues (Galaxy, 1981 ) Unreleased Art, Vol. 1:The Complete Abashiri Concert - November 22, 1981 (Widows Taste, 1981 ) Final Art: Art Pepper Last Concert 1982 (Tofrec, 1982 ) With Dave Pike Pike's Groove (Criss Cross Jazz, 1986) with Cedar Walton With Ernest Ranglin Memories of Barber Mack (Island, 1997) With Vanessa Rubin Girl Talk (Telarc, 1999) With Janis Siegel I Wish You Love (Telarc, 2002) With the Voices of East Harlem Live (Just Sun, 1973) Can You Feel It (1974) With Cedar Walton The Maestro (Muse, 1981) Eastern Rebellion 4 (Timeless, 1984) Cedar's Blues (Red, 1985) The Trio 1 (Red, 1985) The Trio 2 (Red, 1985) The Trio 3 (Red, 1985) Cedar Walton (Timeless, 1985) Bluesville Time (Criss Cross, 1985) As Long as There's Music (Muse, 1990 ) Mosaic (Music Masters, 1990 ) as Eastern Rebellion Simple Pleasure (Music Masters, 1993) as Eastern Rebellion You're My Everything (Sweet Basil, 1993) Art Blakey Legacy (Sweet Basil, 1993) Live at the Village Vanguard (Music Masters, 1994) - as Eastern Rebellion Never Let Me Go (Sweet Basil, 1994) Manhattan Afternoon (Criss Cross, 1994) Sweet Basil Trio (Sweet Basil, 1995) Iron Clad (Monarch, 1995) The Promise Land (HighNote, 2001) Midnight Waltz (Venus, 2005) One Flight Down (HighNote, 2006) The Bouncer (HighNote, 2011) With Larry Willis How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (SteepleChase, 1992) A Tribute to Someone (AudioQuest, 1994)
References
External links
Chantal Esdelle, "Hanging With Happy", May 29, 2010. Ethan Iverson, "Interview with David Williams (for Cedar Walton)", Do the Math, November 11, 2013.