Buster Williams
Griot Liberte, (High Note)
Grade: A
Boston Herald
http://reviews.townonline.com
Review by Kevin R. Convey
Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Just when you thought nobody made the kind of jazz album that depends more on class, beauty, chops and communication than on concepts and star value, along comes bassist Buster Williams' "Griot Liberte." Thank God. It's enough to restore your faith in the art form. Raising high the banner of sleek postmodern jazz he helped hoist with the late, lamented Sphere, Williams drives this quartet with his deep-mahogany sound and deliberate yet conversational flow. But Williams is generous to his bandmates - and well he should be with such players as drummer Lenny White, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and pianist George Colligan. Each carries more than his share of the load, turning in both sparkling solo passages and sleek ensemble parts. Bathing the music, rather than the players, in the spotlight, "Griot Liberte" is a class act.

Griot Liberte
Buster Williams
June 30, 2004 by Brian Moura (HFR)
www.highfidelityreview.com

Griot Liberte is the latest album from jazz bass player Buster Williams. The title of the new album means "storyteller liberator" and Williams says the album demonstrates how he is a storyteller through his music. It features 6 original compositions by Williams along with two well known standards. Over the years, Williams has played with a seemingly endless list of jazz stars including Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Dakota Staton, Betty Carter, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Herbie Mann, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron and many more.

Buster Williams and Something More Are Something Else!
Jazz Police
http://www.jazzpolice.com
Contributed by Andrea Canter  

It would be hard to imagine “Something More” than what Buster Williams’ all-star quartet by that name presented at the Dakota over the past three nights. Imagine the Modern Jazz Quartet—also an all-star ensemble with the same instrumentation—with a stretched out post bop passion, and that will only begin to convey the level of artistry and excitement of William’s crew. While we often see a “master” bandleader in the company of young lions (as in the recent Twin Cities’ visits of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Roy Haynes), we seldom get the chance to see one master in collaboration with other musicians of this caliber. Each member of Something More has a well-established reputation as among the very best—versatile drummer Lenny White (“Bitches Brew” and Return to Forever), vibraphone monster Steve Nelson (Dave Holland Big Band and Quintet), and unbridled pianist Patrice Rushen, better known for her work in R & B, film scores, and musical extravaganza production that straight-ahead jazz....

Post-bop at its very best
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/
BY MARK STRYKER
PRESS MUSIC WRITER JAZZ
|April 9, 2004

There's nothing chic about bands led by the great veteran bassist Buster Williams -- just post-bop of exceptional depth and maturity, anchored by the leader's burnished mahogany tone, magical pulse and quick reflexes. The quartet features versatile pianist George Colligan, savvy vibist Steve Nelson and powerhouse drummer Lenny White, who, despite his fusion past, remains an A-list straight-ahead drummer with a taste for both fiery interaction and judicious dynamics.

Buster Williams & Something More featuring Patrice Rushen, Steve Nelson, and Lenny White performed at the Dakota, but perhaps the gigs should have been billed under the title Buster Williams & Something Special, considering the set they played on April 21...

Buster Williams Quartet
Night Town
Ohio Free Times
http://www.freetimes.com
Wednesday, April 7
— C. Andrew Hovan

It's always a blast when you get a chance to see a real working band take the music through its paces. Taking nothing away from the great musicians in town who often back up the national headliners coming through, there's just something to be said for the chemistry that develops among those that play together often. 
A prime case in point would be the hook-up between the Buster Williams Quartet's pianist George Colligan and legendary drummer Lenny White who fed each other phrases back and forth with the skill and precision of trapeze artists. Of course, the two often work together, and Colligan's skills as an amateur drummer lend themselves well to his own rhythmic conception. As for Steve Nelson, who has been working quite regularly with Dave Holland's quintet, this was a rare opportunity to hear the vibist to stretch out at length, with Buster Williams' bass acting as the glue that held it all together.

Both sets included a mix of standards and Williams' own originals, and the arrangements integrated spots for the bassist to voice the melodies. With his mini keyboard and laptop computer, Colligan tastefully added lush synthesized chords to ballads like “Christina” and then rocked out with some funky solos utilizing both his B3 and Fender Rhodes patches. White often spoke his piece over repeated vamps, building the intensity with lightening-fast tom fills and cymbal splashes. Williams took the opportunity to solo at length during both sets, utilizing the more conventional “Summertime” first go around, and then offering a virtuoso performance of Rodrigo's classical opus, “Concierto de Aranjuez.”

Things really heated up over the course of the evening's second set, which kicked off with Williams' iconic blues line, “Toku-Do.” Nelson was a man in motion, working the entire range of the instrument while throwing in some obscure quotes along the way, such as a brief snippet from Hank Mobley's “Break Through.” With a standing ovation and a roaring crowd that insisted on more, Williams acquiesced and offered an encore, a brisk run through of “Firewater” which allowed White to pull out all the stops.
— C. Andrew Hovan 

By Jay Harvey
Indystar.com
June 3, 2003

It was somewhere in Buster Williams' second solo in the standard "All of You" that the key to his success as a much-in-demand bassist became clear.
That big, enveloping tone and the connectedness of his phrasing surely are what made him a favorite of singers like Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter and Nancy Wilson when he first developed a reputation in his early 20s.

Such security behind them always makes singers happy, although the 61-year-old Camden, N.J., native also played with an honor roll of jazz instrumentalists before making a practice of heading his own small groups in the past decade.

The first set at the Jazz Kitchen presented Williams as a first among equals -- prominent, and in every respect a leader of the ensemble, but not given to inordinate display. Finding their own space on the bandstand were his three formidable colleagues -- pianist George Colligan, alto saxophonist Casey Benjamin and drummer Lenny White.

"All of You" illustrated the interdependence of the foursome, particularly in the smooth transition between Williams' first solo and a showcase for the astute Colligan. As in a deft turn of a musical kaleidoscope, Colligan came into the foreground as Williams segued into an accompanying role.

The band had some fiery originals to bring out for its Indianapolis debut, including a piece that seemed to be a kind of samba-boogie that emphasized new colors in Colligan's playing as he concentrated on the electric keyboard mounted atop the acoustic piano he used for most of the set.

The performance negotiated several tempo changes expertly, with particularly flexible playing from White, a master of hard-bop and jazz-rock fusion idioms.
The quartet scaled back to a duo for Williams and Colligan in "Little Girl Blue," as each player complemented the other with an unerring feeling for melody. Williams has such a rich palette of sound that the effect was almost that of a two-piano team mulling things over compatibly.

Benjamin's hearty tone worked best in short outbursts when the tempo was fast, but he also knew how to make a tune -- or his improvisations on it -- hang together when the tempo slowed, as exemplified in "All of You."

And it was the saxophonist's playing that set the tone in an unusually funky arrangement of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," which honored the original even in going as far afield as incorporating a long drum solo with the rest of the band inserting powerful paired chords every few bars.

Throughout the first set, Williams let his sterling technique remain a servant of his ideas, so that no flurry of notes seemed to shout, "Look what I can do."

That big tone with a burred edge to it always had a story to tell, and it spoke of a musician who works hard so that listeners can enjoy the plushness and energy of any group Williams plays with.

Buster Williams, pals blend youth, maturity
By Howard Reich
Tribune Arts Critic
May 28 2003

Review: Glasgow Herald Monday, August 26, 2002
Buster Williams Quartet What? Music Where?
Bridge Jazz Bar Rating: * * * * *

Even allowing for the kind of venue transformation that the Fringe specialises in, this is surreal. In the back of a South Bridge bar that, mere weeks ago, was a dying-on-its-feet Irish theme pub is a group that would grace any jazz event anywhere.

Buster Williams is a double-bass god, with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea among his previous associates. His is a beautiful, personal sound and he has a technique that makes his physically demanding instrument seem as forbidding as a ukulele. He even sounds great from the loos downstairs, and his fellow musicians - drummer Lenny White, pianist George Colligan, and vibist Steve Nelson - are just the bees' knees.

The level of creativity is supernatural. The music is considered, stately, and, with White's controlled, ultramusical energy (his soloing caused serial jaw dropping), capable of exploding into rumble-tumble excitement. Jazz lovers will delight in their gorgeously understated and quietly groovy I Didn't Know What Time It Was. Bass players will swoon at Williams's solo version of Concierto de Aranjuez. Non-believers may even be converted. They're here until Sunday. Go and rejoice.

Rob Adams

Reviews Jazz:
Buster Williams: Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham, England.
Publication: Guardian Date: Oct 29, 2001 Author: John Fordham

When jazz was very young (about 90 years ago), and primarily a collective art, most of its practitioners would have thought taking a solo was just plain showing off. American bassist Buster Williams' trio, which has been on a short UK tour, is a triumvirate of the kind of solo stars who emerged in the incarnations of jazz that followed. Williams is one of the great acoustic bassists, and pianist Geri Allen and drummer Lenny White have awesome track records. Yet the group turns out to be as eagerly conversational as the earliest of jazz bands.

No single element holds the key, but the relationship between Geri Allen and Lenny White plays a big part. Performing a good deal of the music from Williams's new CD, Houdini, it quickly emerged that the Geri Allen who came to the UK as a leader in the summer - a complex, refined player - had turned into an ecstatic, chord-pumping hedonist. Allen's looseness and enthusiasm gave the show much of its insistent urgency, especially in dialogue with Lenny White's drumming - a dense and full-on style in which every beat, however brief, is given a startling vividness. All this was cajoled and umpired by Williams's elegant basslines.

Houdini itself was an agile postbop theme opened by Williams high on the finger board, and with his characteristic mix of a springy. dancing tone, sure-footed speed and dark, humming low notes. He is sometimes reminiscent of the MJQ's Percy Heath in his prime, but also has Dave Holland's mixture of emphatic and impulsive phrasing. The theme quickly turned into a restless collective improvisation of chiming piano riffs against Lenny White's clamorous drumming, ascending church-bell keyboard chords resolving in fragile trills swiftly echoed by the bass with bursts of jazz-groove walking.

Buster Williams's remarkable fast pizzicato technique and Allen's rich arpeggios illuminated the ballads in the repertoire. But having discovered such an intuitive creativity through stressing the structure to its breaking-point, the high-energy episodes of the show were the most striking, with Williams's flying runs, Allen's prodding, baiting chordwork and White's hissing cymbal responses and snare-pattern showers. Another world-class acoustic piano.

Review: The review on Houdini on www.amazon.co.uk Three masters do their magic, 3 November, 2001
Reviewer: A music fan from Gibraltar

Putting great musicians together, by great I mean in total command of their instruments and past the need to display technique,does not always work. Its often interesting, but not always natural.

Having spent the last 25 years crawling from jazz club to jazz club one also becomes aware that some of the big names live with young blood to keep their music alive. That's fine. But every now and then the names, the different backgrounds of musicians all slip into the background and their music stands ahead of them. So it is with this trio who recently performed in the Pizza Express, Dean Street London, which, since Ronnie died, has become the jazz soul of that great city.

Biased as I am towards the role of the acoustic bass and that line of creativity that flows from Blanton through Mingus, I was spellbound by Williams sensitivity. Like a maestro of a flamenco guitar there was no technique here that could be called show rather than music. Gerri Allen's intimacy with Willams and Lenny White's clean and clear pulse make this a session that even truculent purists should not miss.

To a newcomer to the trio, Houdini will send you searching for past works and wondering if the magic can be cast again in a future album.

The CD sits on my shelf between Cedar Walton and Ahmad Jamal and the recent Chano Dominguez 'Imam'. All music where you hear the notes without effort. Music which tells you that, in a world increasingly dominated by cash and image, is not ephemeral, there is still a jazz that it is serious, beautiful and moving. When you listen to this one you won't need Houdini's chains to immobilise you.