Happy Birthday, Big Sam!
John Dunlop
Trombonist and band leader Sammie 'Big Sam' Williams was born in New Orleans on February 20, and in his youth, he studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, and was a founding member of the Stooges Brass Band in his teens. He joined the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, allowing him to perform with luminaries such as James Brown, Karl Denson, Dave Matthews, and Widespread Panic. A year after joining the Dirty Dozen, he began a side project broadening his musical ambitions, and in 2006, he played with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint on their album The River in Reverse and tour.
Big Sam's Funky Nation, a funk and rock band, became his main band, and incorporated elements of traditional jazz, contemporary jazz, acid jazz, dance, hard rock, and punk into their music. They performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Voodoo Music Experience, Bonnaroo, South By Southwest, and Austin City Limits. Williams had a recurring role in the HBO series Tremé, and in 2014, he proposed to his wife on stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He learned in adulthood that he is the great-grandson of cornetist Buddy Bolden. Happy birthday to this energetic and supremely talented musician!
Photo: bigsamsfunkynation.com