Al Williams III

A blues-based pianist who played with trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen, trumpeter Buck Clayton, and saxophonist Johnny Hodges, among others, Williams lived in Chicago from an early age. He studied piano as a child and began playing professionally in Chicago around 1935. He formed a 12-piece dance band around 1936, and a trio in 1942. During the '40s he played with such musicians as Allen, clarinetist Jimmy Noone, and bandleader Erskine Tate. In the late '40s Williams played in a duo with his wife, singer Aubrey Hobbs; the pair was known as Alfred and Aubrey. Williams also arranged ...