Joe Williams

Joe Williams’s hickory-smoked croon could convey the bluest blues and the sweetest joys, a flexibility that served him well as the lead singer of Count Basie’s band in the 1950s. At a time when Basie was at a low commercial ebb, Williams’s presence rejuvenated the live act. The singer also had a charting solo hit with Memphis Slim’s “Everyday I Have the Blues,” certainly one of the more popular renditions of the oft-covered standard. In the ‘60s Williams worked mostly as a solo artist, often accompanied by top-flight jazzmen, including Harry Edison, Clark Terry, and Cannonball Adderley. He continued to tour until his death in 1999.