(With special guests: Slide Hampton and Jimmy Heath)
Long a jazz institution in Baltimore, both as a jazz educator, multi-reed player and band leader, Whit Williams gets to shine his talents with a tight big band on his new MAMA release. Along to sweeten the pot are jazz masters trombonist Slide Hampton and saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Heath has three of his own compositions and arranges Kenny Dorham’s Una Mas. Slide contributes two of his own tunes and arranges Monk’s classic Little Rootie Tootie.
Whitman’s The Radiator Man is Well, was written in memory of the late great Baltimore vibraphonist, James Wells, and Hampton’s solo on this number is a highlight. So is Jimmy Heath’s solo on This is What It Is. Heath also shines on Dorham’s Una Mas. Now’s the time for Whit Williams to get the long overdue recognition he deserves which was previously confined to the Beltway area.
– Jeff Krow
