Martin Williams (writer)

Martin Tudor Hansford Williams(9 August 1924 – 11 or 12 April 1992)was an American jazz critic and writer.

Education and service in the armed forces

Williams was born inRichmond, Virginia.He attendedSt. Christopher Episcopal Preparatory School,then entered theU.S. ArmyduringWorld War II.After his military service duringWorld War II,which included combat in thebattle of Iwo Jima,Williams first studied law, then literature at theUniversity of Virginia(BA1948), at theUniversity of Pennsylvania(MA1950) and atColumbia University.

Career

Williams, beginning in the early 1950s, became a prolific jazz critic, contributing articles toThe Saturday Review,The New York Times,Harper's Magazine,Down Beat,andThe Jazz Review,which he founded in November 1958 withNat Hentoff,which often featured contributions by jazz musicians, includingGunther Schuller,Dick Katz,andCecil Taylor.The Jazz Reviewalso featured contributions by other notable people, includingSheldon MayerandDan Morgenstern.

Williams authored many books on jazz, a collection of sixteen essays, profiling jazz musicians, in a book titledThe Jazz Tradition.From 1971 to 1981 Williams headed the jazz and "American Culture Program" at theSmithsonian InstitutioninWashington D.C.,where, in 1973, he compiled and wrote liner notes forThe Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz.In 1983, he,Gunther Schuller,and the Smithsonian — in collaboration withRCA Records— producedBig Band Jazz.With animation historianMichael Barrier,Williams co-editedA Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics(1982).

External links

• Guide to the Martin Williams Collection,Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago