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JAZZ ROOM SERIES PRESENTS AN AFTERNOON WITH JAMES WILLIAMS AND FRIENDS James Williams, a jazz pianist of international stature and the new director of William Paterson's jazz studies program, will be joined by special guests for a Jazz Room Series concert at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, February 20. The concert will begin at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne. Tickets are available in advance or on the day of the performance at $12 standard; $9 for senior citizens, non-William Paterson students and William Paterson faculty, staff and alumni. William Paterson students may attend free of charge. One of the most sought after pianists on the New York jazz scene, Williams first gained recognition as the pianist and music director with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has played, toured and recorded with such prominent artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, George Duvivier, Art Farmer, Kenny Burrell and many others. Williams is featured on dozens of recordings and since producing his own album "Alter Ego" in 1984, he has gone on to produce albums for many other musicians, including Phineas Newborn, Jr. and Harold Mabern. As a performer and composer, Williams has been praised in the reviews of countless publications worldwide. He has published a folio of his original piano compositions and several of his tunes appear on other artists' albums, including those of Art Farmer, Kenny Barron and Victor Lewis. Williams received a bachelor's degree in music education at Memphis State University. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, James Williams is a veteran jazz educator who has taught at the Berklee College of Music and served as artist-in-residence at Eastern Illinois University, Cornish College, the New England Conservatory, Dartmouth College and Harvard University. He has also presented numerous clinics and workshops and has been a regular contributor to the International Association of Jazz Educators since 1990. Williams will be the guest for "Sittin' In," an informal discussion with the artists presented before the concert. The talk begins at 3 p.m. in room 101 of Shea Center. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticketholders. Launched in the spring of 1978, William Paterson's Jazz Room Series has earned a reputation for presenting concerts by eminent musicians in the jazz world. The series has been awarded numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and Citations of Excellence from the Council for its cultural contribution to the state. For additional information, please call William Paterson's Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371. ###
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