CLARENCE WILLIAMS | LIVIN' HIGH | COMPLETE PIANO AND ORCHESTRA ALBUM | 1926-1930

Clarence Williams first found success as a songwriter and publisher, yet by 1926 he was also one of the most recorded pianists and bandleaders in Harlem. Born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, in 1893, Williams grew up in New Orleans and absorbed its early jazz language before moving north around 1916. He built a publishing business out of Tin Pan Alley offices and brought New Orleans repertoire to a national market, but music never became a sideline. When Okeh Records opened its race‑record series, Williams was ready with his Blue Five, Blue Seven, and small pick‑up orchestras that included sidemen such as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Buster Bailey. His piano style, lightly percussive and unmannered, anchored every session and left plenty of room for the horns to push melodies forward.

The recordings gathered here cover the years 1926 through 1930, a period when Williams moved fluidly between pared‑down piano duets and fuller studio orchestras. His own playing favoured crisp stride figures, but he rarely showed off; he preferred to drive the rhythm and let soloists take the spotlight. At the same time, he shaped the writing, arranging, and even the business side of these sessions, turning them into steady vehicles for original songs. Listeners who first encountered “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home,” “Livin’ High,” or “Royal Garden Blues” through these discs were hearing new material that Williams had already placed in sheet‑music stores within weeks.

Williams approached the studio with a publisher’s sense of economy. The takes are concise, the voicings clean, and the rhythm section unobtrusive. He never aimed for cinematic sweep; instead, he sought clarity, making sure every melody line would transfer neatly from record groove to parlor piano bench. That practicality did not rob the music of character. The best sides balance relaxed swing with a faint touch of parade‑ground formality, a reminder of Williams’s New Orleans roots and his knack for tailoring that feel to urban audiences.

Although his name seldom appears in later lists of virtuosic jazz pianists, Williams exerted quiet authority over the emerging recording scene. He scouted talent, booked studios, and handled publishing royalties, effectively controlling the pipeline from composition to record store. This dual role gave him unusual leverage and allowed him to translate New Orleans sensibilities into arrangements that fit Harlem’s fast‑moving nightlife. His influence landed less in solos than in the infrastructure of jazz itself, opening doors for younger musicians who would later define the Swing Era.

These sessions reveal an artist who understood that restraint can carry as much weight as fireworks. Williams’s piano stays close to the beat, his touch dry and clear, guiding the ensemble rather than towering over it. Even when the horn lines turn exuberant, the overall texture remains grounded, as if he is quietly reminding everyone where one and three belong. That unflashy discipline offers a window into how early jazz balanced individuality with collective momentum.

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Tracklist:
0:00 Church Street Blues
3:01 Wild Flower Rag
6:12 Cushion Foot Stomp
9:36 Wipe 'Em Off
12:18 Pane in the Glass
15:21 Take Your Black Bottom Outside
18:20 Kansas City Man Blues
21:13 Log Cabin Blues
24:28 Mountain Citty Blues
27:39 Organ Grinder Blues
30:47 Jackass Blues
33:52 Livin' High
37:07 I'm Goin' Back To Bottomland
39:43 I'm Sitting On Top Of The World
42:44 Black Snake Blues
45:42 Gravier Street Blues

Nearly a century later, the records still breathe. Surface hiss and slight pitch wobble cannot hide the easy gait of a Williams two‑beat or the conversational logic of a Bechet clarinet solo. What survives is the imprint of a musician who kept his ambitions practical and his sense of swing uncomplicated. These tracks are less about heroic virtuosity and more about sustainable craft, the very quality that allowed jazz to settle into everyday American life.

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