Young drummer latest HSPVA alum to feed jazz/hip-hop/experimental rock scenes
The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts this week shepherded another class of young artists toward institutions of higher learning. I’ve heard only a little from Raven Moran — whose uncle is pianist Jason Moran — but the guitarist is a monster young talent.
The school’s storied jazz program has for years flooded New York’s scene with top players, some of whom find great success early, others in more measured steps.
One such HSPVA alum, Jamire Williams, 32, has enjoyed renown for his drumming. He’s worked with two generations of top pianists, from legend Herbie Hancock to current star Robert Glasper. He’s performed with John Mayer and Solange.
Williams also has led a progressive ensemble called ERIMAJ, but more recently he sank roots into Los Angeles. There he found himself comfortably working in a scene that is doing daring and innovative work that spans jazz, experimental rock and hip-hop, a scene where his first solo album fits comfortably.
Solo drum recordings often are greeted with the warmth afforded door-to-door salesmen, but Williams’ “///// Effectual” has proved tirelessly intriguing since its release at the beginning of the year. “///// Effectual” is a drummer’s record without any doubt, and Williams’ kit is at the center of each composition. But the pieces are short and wiry, occasionally with little electronic elements and some additional percussion that broaden the sound. Those who dig recordings by Flying Lotus and Thundercat should find “///// Effectual” to be a dark and enveloping listening experience and not the work of a percussionist digging long grooves.
Williams comes across as studious on the record, eagerly testing all manner of percussive sounds for how they resonate and then decay.
“I know people compare it to painting, but that fits,” Williams says. “You have a brushstroke, and then you paint another over it. Sometimes they bleed into each other. For me, there are all these different frequencies that you’re getting in different stages of decay. They’re all meant to make you think about time. For me, it’s all about time. Capturing a moment, and shaping how you hear and feel it.”
Growing up in Houston, Williams found music in the usual places: “playing in bands, playing in church.
“I always knew this is what I wanted to do,” he says.
He also felt a pull, even in high school, to push old traditions. “I didn’t want to be pigeonholed into one genre, one category, even as a kid. But in high school, it was nice to find these other artists who also had a strong type of perspective on who they were and what they wanted to say.”
After HSPVA, Williams studied jazz and contemporary music at the New School in New York. He’s since worked with legends like Dr. Lonnie Smith and rising young stars Christian Scott. Last year he played drums on “The New Breed,” a well-received album by jazz guitarist Jeff Parker of Tortoise.
His jazz bona fides well in place, Williams took a big, bold step with “///// Effectual” that reflects his far-ranging thoughts on how the drums and percussion fit in contemporary music.
“The drums are just a canvas for me,” he says. “I see them as very impressionistic in a way. So I try to display that in a way … I want to take a listener on a journey. Create an effective atmosphere. So some of that is just the raw natural acoustic drums I play. And another is a hybrid kit with electronic pads and triggers. There’s another with these 1800s turn-of-thecentury drums, like playing in a post-war setting. Each one gives you a different canvas to create.”
Jazz history is full of sharp stylistic turns, some of which confounded listeners. The music coming out of Los Angeles today is miles from old-school bebop, but it nevertheless represents a strong creative fount that is drawing international attention. Several prominent players — Glasper and Flying Lotus among them — showed up on rapper Kendrick Lamar’s hit album “To Pimp a Butterfly.” And saxophonist Kamasi Washington drew widespread attention for “The Epic,” his sprawling three-LP album of modern jazz. Distinctions between styles — jazz, electronic, hip-hop, soul — have largely dissipated.
“I mean, we’ve studied the music, studied the traditions,” Williams says. “It’s in us. It’s only right once you internalize the music and the vocabulary and experience life, you translate it and interpret it. And that means it will be a little different, a little progressive. That you’ll push it. It’s a constant battle. People want to keep things traditional. But that doesn’t work for me. The people I work with — the people I’m interested in — they know where the music started, but they’re interested in where they can take it. Music is so full of possibility. Why would you limit that?”