Tony Williams is a
legendary saxophonist based out of Philadelphia which has been
considered to be a "Mecca" of jazz. He has traveled and toured the
nation, Europe and Asia. His sound and style has been compared to those
jazz saxophonist greats as "Cannonball", Coltrane, and Stanley
Turrentine. Tony Williams has played along with as a side man with many
other jazz greats such as Nat Adderley, Donald Byrd, Wild Bill Davis,
Dakota Staton, Jean Carn, Grover Washington, Jr., Shirley Scott and
Jimmy McGriff just to name a few. Tony is on a number of recordings as
he also was a significant part of MFSB with many of the Philadelphia
International Recordings and artists in the 70's. Tony Williams also was
a part of the band that did the music for Bill Cosby's TV show. He and
Bill Cosby have continued to stay close as Bill Cosby kicks off the Tony
Williams Jazz Festival every Labor Day weekend as the emcee and the
drummer with the Bill Cosby Reunion Band for the renowned 4 day jazz
festival that includes many of the jazz legends from Philadelphia as
well as the world.Tony has a lifetime of playing and propagating jazz. Whether leading his own group or just sitting in as a sideman, Tony always projects the joy of jazz. His contributions to maintaining the vitality of Philadelphia's rich jazz tradition include his achievements as founder of the Mt Airy Cultural Center. Tony was the recipient of the Mellon Jazz Community Award in 2003.