Joe Williams was the last of the great big band singers, a powerful baritone with the rare ability to offer definitive versions of blues, standards, and ballads. A warm performer with a confidently swinging style, Williams brought an urbane sophistication to a role pioneered in the Count Basie band by Jimmy Rushing. Raised in Chicago, Williams began singing in nightclubs while still a teenager. He worked with Jimmy Noone in the late 1930’s and performed with Coleman Hawkins and  Lionel Hampton  in the early 40’s.   A tour with  Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy during 1946 and 1947 led to Williams’s first recording, but he

continued to struggle. In the late 40’s he had brief stints with the Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson band and the Red Saunders band back in Chicago. In 1950 he worked with trumpeter Hot Lips Page and the septet Count Basie founded after breaking up his big band. Williams scored a minor hit with King Kolax in 1951 with "Everyday I Have the Blues," which would become one of his signature songs, but he scuffled for another few years before hooking up with Basie again in 1954. During his seven year tenure with the revitalized Basie band, Williams became an international star and was one of the key elements behind Basie’s resurgence. Williams worked with trumpeter Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison’s small group from 1961 to 1962 and toured with his own rhythm section after that.
   Over the years Williams occasionally reunited with Basie and also recorded memorable sessions with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, the Capp/Pierce Juggernaut, Cannonball Adderley, and George Shearing. He continued to perform and record with the energy and chops of a man half his age well into the 1990’s.