Sherman Williams

Sherman Williams was a Nashville-area musician who formed his own jump and swing band in 1940. With Williams on alto sax, the group included Charles Gillum on trumpet, Bill Jones on tenor sax, Ed "Skippy" Brooks on piano and vocals, James Brown on bass, Alvin Woods on drums and vocalist Iona Wade. The group recorded for Bullet Records in Nashville in 1947, with sessions for Foto Records in Los Angeles that same year, followed by stints at Excelsior and Gold Star Records in 1948. Wade departed the band at this point, and the group recorded for Plymouth Records in 1949 before Brooks left in 1950, followed by Gillum. The band did back Brooks on his solo debut, "Skippy's Blues," for Peacock Records later that year, however. Williams formed his own label, Unique Records, in 1951, and recorded the nearest thing he ever had to a hit, the infectious "The Bounce (Parts 1 & 2)," which featured the West Coast vocal group the Four Flames. Williams ended up selling Unique Records to Art Rupe, who then re-released "The Bounce" on his Fidelity Records label. Sherman Williams recorded a final track in 1956 for Flip Records. Although they never tasted anything beyond local success in their musical endeavors, Williams' band, like countless other small swing and jump blues combos of the era, leaves behind a small but solid body of work.