Charles Melvin ("Cootie") Williams (b. July 10, 1911, Mobile, Alabama - d, September 15, 1985, New York, New York) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young, when he was 14 years old. In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the ba...
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Charles Melvin ("Cootie") Williams (b. July 10, 1911, Mobile, Alabama - d, September 15, 1985, New York, New York) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young, when he was 14 years old. In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. He rose to prominence as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra, with which he performed from 1929 to 1940. He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen. In 1940 he joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, then in 1941 formed his own orchestra, in which over the years he employed Charlie Parker, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Bud Powell, Eddie Vinson, and other important young players.
He began to play more rhythm and blues in the late 1940s. In the 1950s he...
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