al Williamson

American jazz pianist Claude Williamson, although born in Vermont, moved to California early in his career and worked with West Coast jazz heavyweights Art Pepper, Max Roach, Bud Shank and Stan Levey. Williamson also spent a portion of his career in television, starting in the late 1960s, including stints with both The Andy Williams Show and Sonny and Cher. For this 2002 Venus release he is joined by Andy Simpkins (bass) and Al "Tootie" Heath (drums).

Claude Berkeley Williamson was an American jazz pianist. In 1968, he started working as a pianist for NBC, first on The Andy Williams Show, then for Sonny and Cher. In 1978, Williamson went back to the jazz world and released many albums, mainly for Japanese labels. On this release for Venus Records he is joined by Andy Simpkins (bass) and Al "Tootie" Heath (drums).

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper is a double album recorded at the Fillmore West venue; the album is a successor to the studio album Super Session, which included both Bloomfield and Kooper in addition to Stephen Stills, and had achieved commercial and critical success earlier in 1968. The performances, recordings and production cannot be described as flawless; in his sleeve notes, Kooper describes the difficulties of finding rehearsal space, Bloomfield's insomnia, and the failure of a vocal microphone during "Dear Mr Fantasy"; the track "I Wonder Who" is faded during a Bloomfield solo for no apparent reason. Nevertheless, the album remains an important, if raw, document of a live blues-rock performance of the period and, apart from its intrinsic qualities, is notable not only for one of the earliest live recordings by Carlos Santana but also for Bloomfield's debut as a vocalist. Whilst he is not historically noted in this role, in "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong", according to Kooper, "he displays consummate homage to the traditional guitar-voice trade-offs; a lesson in phrasing and understanding."

Mr. Counterpoint. This album took its title from a club in West Orange, N.J., called Counterpoint. The club was owned by pianist John Gamba, making him one of the few jazz musicians to become a club owner. A skilled technician, the pianist managed to infuse his performances with a good deal of unexpected fire. Indeed, there were moments on “Words,” “Yesterdays,” and “Leaves” that sharply suggested the legendary Eddie Costa. Gamba had the strong percussive approach to his instrument that was a hallmark of Costa and displayed a similar concept of time.

Claude Williamson was an American jazz pianist who studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before moving to jazz, influenced mainly by Teddy Wilson, then by Al Haig and Bud Powell. He worked with Max Roach, Art Pepper and others. Williamson was a longtime member of the Lighthouse All-Stars (substituting for pianist Russ Freeman), performing with Bud Shank, Stan Levey, Bob Cooper, Conte Candoli and Howard Rumsey. This release was recorded in Hollywood for Japanese Venus label.