Cootie Williams

Cootie Williams, one of the finest trumpeters of the 1930s, expanded upon the role originally formed by <a href="spotify:artist:5HDCdQ8Z534fUX4gZI5IzT">Bubber Miley</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington's Orchestra</a>. Renowned for his work with the plunger mute, Cootie was also a fine soloist when playing open. Starting as a teenager, Cootie Williams played with a variety of local bands in the South, coming to New York with Alonzo Ross' Syncopators. He played for a short time with the orchestras of <a href="spotify:artist:7AgtFmxbJL1wDbp7yYrzQb">Chick Webb</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2ovJLSejirvJybNers2YG6">Fletcher Henderson</a> (recording with the latter), before joining <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:5HDCdQ8Z534fUX4gZI5IzT">Miley</a>'s replacement in February 1929. He was a fixture with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a>'s band during the next 11 years, not only recording many classics with <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Ellington</a> (including "Echoes of Harlem" and "Concerto for Cootie"), but leading some of his own sessions and recording with <a href="spotify:artist:2PjgZkwAEk7UTin4jP6HLP">Lionel Hampton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0tg5uVI4VjzZOFzBryJZii">Teddy Wilson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1YzCsTRb22dQkh9lghPIrp">Billie Holiday</a>, in addition to being a guest at <a href="spotify:artist:1pBuKaLHJlIlqYxQQaflve">Benny Goodman</a>'s Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938. His decision to leave <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Ellington</a> and join <a href="spotify:artist:1pBuKaLHJlIlqYxQQaflve">Goodman</a>'s orchestra in 1940 was considered a major event in the jazz world. During his year with B.G., Williams was well-featured with both the big band and <a href="spotify:artist:1pBuKaLHJlIlqYxQQaflve">Goodman</a>'s sextet. The following year he became a bandleader, heading his own orchestra which, at times in the 1940s, featured such up-and-coming players as pianist <a href="spotify:artist:570vCzcespB48HIQyTbDO6">Bud Powell</a>, tenorman <a href="spotify:artist:0gNn3uUyIEErdQthThI51i">Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis</a>, altoist/singer <a href="spotify:artist:0R3bGv703d8JFKdZxsHr58">Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson</a>, and even <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a>.

Although he had a hit (thanks to <a href="spotify:artist:5o9MivbKGy9fPcqwC6pQc6">Willis Jackson</a>'s honking tenor) on "Gator," by 1948 Cootie had cut his group back to a sextet. Playing R&B-oriented music, he worked steadily at the Savoy, but by the 1950s was drifting into obscurity. However, in 1962, after a 22-year absence, Cootie Williams rejoined <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke Ellington</a>, staying even beyond <a href="spotify:artist:4F7Q5NV6h5TSwCainz8S5A">Duke</a>'s death in 1974 as a featured soloist. By then his solos were much simpler and more primitive than earlier (gone was the <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a>-inspired bravado), but Cootie remained the master with the plunger mute. He was semi-retired during his final decade, taking a final solo in 1978 on a <a href="spotify:artist:2mPL4g4v9DS55zi6QctLbP">Teresa Brewer</a> record, and posthumously serving as an inspiration for <a href="spotify:artist:375zxMmh2cSgUzFFnva0O7">Wynton Marsalis</a>' own plunger playing. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi