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.

Discography

As leader

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