James Williams
Piano Solo on
Just Friends

About

James Williams follows Rickey Woodard with two swinging choruses of piano on "Just Friends" at approximately 165 BPM, demonstrating his mastery of the hard-bop piano vocabulary over the 32-bar ABAC form in F. His two-chorus solo complements Woodard's more blues-rooted approach with harmonic sophistication and rhythmic invention, the contrast between the two soloists adding depth to the performance. As the second of three soloists, Williams's playing bridges Woodard's expansive tenor feature and Christian McBride's concluding bass solo, his hard-bop authority evident in every phrase.

James Williams was 40 to 41 years old at the time.