From: Lou Caputo <jazzcat47@aol.com>
To those of you who remember the great days at the Greenwich Village jazz club “Garage" on Seventh Ave South I regret to inform you of the passing of band leader, pianist and arranger Howard Williams. For almost 20 years THE HOWARD WILLIAM'S JAZZ ORCHESTRA held forth every Monday night and was "New York's best kept jazz secret" to quote legendary trumpeter Al Porcino one of many greats who stopped around to check out the band
Howard was a fixture on the New York scene since in the mid fifties and has the distinction of recording with John Coltrane on the album "Tanganyika Strut" recorded in 1958. Howard along with Bill Crow also appeared in the recent documentary "The Jazz Loft Project" which depicted the flourishing loft jazz scene of the fifties that existed in Manhattan's Flower District which Howard was a part of. On a personal level, Howard meant a lot to me as a colleague and musical inspiration going back to our time in Atlantic City together circa-1986. It was a high point in my career to play Baritone saxophone and Bass clarinet in his Jazz Orchestra
At the present time no plans for a memorial have been set More info to follow
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