Jazz Legend Joe Williams Dead At 80

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Legendary jazz and blues singer Joe Williams, whose deep baritone often turned the Basie band into a swinging revival meeting, has died in Las Vegas of acute lung disease, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Williams, 80, collapsed and died in the street after leaving his hospital bed and walking more than two miles (3 km) in the direction of his home Monday, hospital spokeswoman Ann Lynch said.

He was admitted to the Sunrise Hospital a week ago and was being treated for acute obstructive pulmonary disease.

``He indicated to the staff he was leaving and that he would be back in a moment, that he'd be right back,'' Lynch said. ''When he did not return we began a search and we called the police.''

Williams, whose powerful baritone voice could deliver blues, standards and ballads with equal force or tenderness, was among the last of the big-band singers.

He sang as a regular with the Count Basie Band from 1954 to 1961 and became an international star. After the big-band era, Williams continued to perform with small groups and in 1985 he won a Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance for his album ``Nothin' But The Blues.''

President Clinton said he and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were deeply saddened to learn of Williams' death.

``He was a national treasure. For the better part of this century, America was blessed with Joe Williams' smooth baritone voice and peerless interpretations of our favorite ballads,'' the president said in a statement.

``Hearing Joe Williams sing at the White House in 1993 remained one of my favorite memories,'' he added.

Branching out from the jazz scene to network television, Williams was a recurring character on hit NBC comedy ``The Cosby Show'' in the 1980s, playing Bill Cosby's father-in-law.

Williams was scheduled to perform in Las Vegas on May 7 with the Jimmy Wilkins band at the Annual Joe Williams Music Scholarship fund-raiser to benefit the Community College of Southern Nevada.

He was born in Cordele, Georgia, in 1918 and moved with his family to Chicago as a boy. As a teenager in the 1930s he founded The Jubilee Boys, a group that sang in local churches.

He made his professional debut with the late Jimmy Noone, but at first he was unable to support himself just singing.

Williams always maintained his big break came in 1943 when he was working as a security guard at the Regal Theater in Chicago, where he met such jazz luminaries as Duke Ellington.

The manager of the Regal, recognizing his talents, recommended him to jazz great Lionel Hampton. In the early 1940s he performed with Hampton and with Coleman Hawkins.

A tour with Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy in 1946 and 1947 led to his first recording. He first teamed up with Basie in 1950, briefly joining the septet Basie formed after breaking up his big band.

But times were lean for Williams, despite having a minor hit in 1951 with ``Everyday I Have the Blues,'' recorded with the King Kolax band.

He renewed his association with Basie in 1954 when the bandleader formed another big band, and stayed with him for the next seven years. Critics said Williams was one of the key elements behind Basie's resurgence.

After leaving Basie in 1961, he joined trumpeter Harry ''Sweets'' Edison, staying with the small band until 1962. He then formed his own quartet, but also occasionally got back together with Basie and recorded memorable sessions with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. He also appeared with Cannonball Adderly and George Shearing.

Among the albums Williams is best remembered for are ``Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Swings,'' ``Joe Williams and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra'' and ``Ballad and Blues Master.''

Williams, a longtime resident of Las Vegas, is survived by his wife Jillean, son Joe and daughter Anne.

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