Cootie Williams

Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.

Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young. According to Williams he acquired his nickname as a boy when his father took him to a band concert. When it was over his father asked him what he'd heard and he replied, "Cootie, cootie, cootie."

In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen.

In 1940, Williams joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, a highly publicized move that caused quite a stir at the time, (commemorated by Raymond Scott with the song "When Cootie Left the Duke"), then in 1941 formed his own orchestra, in which over the years he employed Charlie Parker, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Bud Powell, Eddie Vinson, and other young players.

By the late 1940s, Williams had fallen into obscurity, having had to reduce his band numbers and finally to disband. In the 1950s, he began to play more rhythm and blues, toured with small groups, and played in the Savoy Ballroom.

Death Williams died in New York City on September 15, 1985, at the age of 74 from a kidney ailment. He is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.

Discography As leader Cootie Williams and His Orchestra 1941–1944 (Classics, 1995) --earliest solo recordings The Big Challenge (Jazztone, 1957) Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi (RCA Victor, 1958) Around Midnight (Jaro, 1959) Cootie (Decca, 1959) Porgy & Bess Revisited (Warner Bros., 1959) Do Nothing Till You Hear from ... Cootie (Warwick, 1960) The Solid Trumpet of Cootie Williams (Moodsville, 1962)

As sideman Duke Ellington, All Star Road Band Volume 2 (Doctor Jazz, 1985) Joya Sherrill, Joya Sherrill Sings Duke (20th Century Fox, 1965)