Review: the return of Steve Williamson

Steve Williamson. Photo credit: Roger Thomas

Tomorrows Warriors Jazz Orchestra dir. Gary Grosby / Steve Williamson
(Purcell Room,Southbank Cenre, July 23rd 2011. Review by Roger Thomas)

Among all the Jazz Warriors, Tomorrows Warriors, and the many bands that have come out of that movement, Steve Williamson is the Forgotten Warrior. A key figure in the original Jazz Warriors, he has scarcely played in public for more than a decade. He decided to shift his energy and his sincerity to focus on imperatives which were more important to him. The good news for the future is that the time away has also allowed him to become productive and given him fresh inspiration towards writing/composition.

The story of Steve Williamson's involvement in this conert is in Gary Crosby's preview for LondonJazz.

There was a packed house, and the programme had a logic, a sense of building towards a climax. The first set was given up to showcasing arrangements by Tomorrows Warriors alumni, namely Peter Edwards, Binker Golding, James Mckay and Jason Yarde. A highlight of the second set was Steve Williamson's composition Soon Come. Gary Crosby had explained to the audience that Soon Come is a West Indian term similar to the Spanish "mañana." And Jason Yarde's arrangement had got right into the spirit: apparently Jason had delivered the parts half an hour before the end of the band's last rehearsal. Literally, with the ink still wet! Denys Baptiste's authoratitive tenor solo gave that tune a kick, a shift in gear, as he delivered a flurry of urgent notes, as if he needed to get them all before the closing of a door.

But the best, the main event, came with the last number, Waltz For Grace, the piece Steve wrote in memory of his sister who passed away at a very young age.

Wiliamson enters the stage with a shy grin acknowledging the applause. Joined by vocalist Myrna Hague, known as Jamaica's First Lady Of Jazz, they position themselves as Steve starts to ease his way into the song with some light soprano lines and the occasional pause for thought followed by more delicate lines before signalling for the song to begin proper. This James McKay arrangement allowed for every facet of the song to be appreciated with moments of poignancy as Steve's soprano intertwined with sweet tones of Myrna's voice. It was one of those moments where you knew you' heard a piece of history in the making, and didn't want the song to end knowing that it was the last song. However, the audience showed such appreciation that Gary Crosby and Steve returned to play a bass and soprano version of John Coltrane's Equinox.

Let's hope to hear more from Steve Williamson, and of the new music he has been working on in the very near future. Welcome back to the Warriors.

Part of Great British Jazz produced for the South Bank Centre by Serious, and of the London is the Place for Me weekend celebrating seminal moments in black British music. Tomorrow's Warriors is a weekend resident at Southbank Centre.

The music of Steve Williamson at the Purcell Room

Steve Williamson

The Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors , Gary Crosby OBE previews "Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra Plays The Music of Steve Williamson," a project in which the composer has - unexpectedly - become personally involved.
(Saturday 23 July, 7:45pm Purcell Room, Southbank Centre)

Steve Williamson was a close personal friend, and the better I came to know him the more I understood that his music was not only about his theoretical and technical skills but also his cultural background. He was very interested in modern classical music and his use of folkloric relationships within the music were not always picked up by jazz writers. He sadly dropped off the scene in the early nineties with only intermittent reappearances since that time.


I felt that by working on new arrangements of Steve’s music with upcoming talents such as Peter Edwards, Binker Golding and James McKay. and more established figures like Jason Yarde, was an opportunity to play the music of someone that I loved and respected, and to make the public aware of Steve’s important contribution to the legacy of black British jazz.

But recently an extraordinary thing happened. The writer Kevin LeGendre ran into Steve playing on Hackney Marshes and told him what we were doing. Steve then came down to one of our Southbank weekend workshops and was deeply touched to hear our young musicians playing his music.

At the Southbank this Saturday we’ll be playing five pieces reflecting Steve’s relationship with bebop, his Jamaican roots and his understanding of modern musical techniques. And we're delighted that Steve will join us to perform his 'Waltz For Grace' along with the wonderful Jamaican singer Myrna Hague.We sincerely hope the audience will join us and follow Steve’s journey of artistic discovery.

This concert is part of "London Is The Place For Me" - A weekend at the Southbank centre celebrating some of the seminal moments in black British music.