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For My Nephews – James Williams
A tender song and a heartfelt tribute to James' family. Simple with a soaring melody, it's been recorded many times in quite a variety of settings. Our lead sheet comes from James' first quartet version; we also have a solo piano arrangement with an exclusive recording by Kenny Drew, Jr.
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- Recording: James Williams - Everything I Love
- Recorded on: April, 1979
- Label: Concord (CJ 104)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: 3/4 swing (medium)
- Tenor Sax - Billy Pierce
- Piano - James Williams
- Bass - Dennis Irwin
- Drums - Billy Hart
One of the most memorable of James Williams' songs, For My Nephews' soaring melody makes it very versatile. It's simple and lyrical both melodically and harmonically, in a concise 16-measure form. There are a few unexpected passing chords, but the harmonic structure is quite tonal. Our lead sheet is based on James' quartet version from the "Everything I Love" album. It includes a 16-measure intro which is played on many recordings of this song. This intro features a descending line over changes through a circle of fourths, but spiced with one augmented fourth (B♭maj7 to Emaj7). On this recording the piano and bass play these chords rhythmically together. The coda tags the second half of the head two more times, crescendoing into the end and landing on an unexpected D♭ major chord.
Piano and bass parts are available; click on Piano Corner and Bass Corner for details. Our lead sheets include a chromatic piano fill in the fourth measure of the head, as well as piano comping rhythms elsewhere. Many of these rhythms are on the offbeats, "bouncing" off the melody notes on the downbeat; we feel they're an important part of this song's rhythmic feel.
Piano and bass parts are available; click on Piano Corner and Bass Corner for details. Our lead sheets include a chromatic piano fill in the fourth measure of the head, as well as piano comping rhythms elsewhere. Many of these rhythms are on the offbeats, "bouncing" off the melody notes on the downbeat; we feel they're an important part of this song's rhythmic feel.
James Williams' nephews, commemorated in this song, include drummer Tony Reedus.
This was the second recording of For My Nephews; click on the next album cover for the first, a duo version with bassist Dennis Irwin. James recorded another duo version in 1981, a two-piano recording with Czech pianist Emil Viklicky. This version has the same intro as on "Everything I Love" but a longer coda: after the tag, there's a short vamp followed by the first half of the intro again.
This was the second recording of For My Nephews; click on the next album cover for the first, a duo version with bassist Dennis Irwin. James recorded another duo version in 1981, a two-piano recording with Czech pianist Emil Viklicky. This version has the same intro as on "Everything I Love" but a longer coda: after the tag, there's a short vamp followed by the first half of the intro again.
Our Piano Part contains the top two notes of James' voicings for the intro, as well as any counterpoint he plays below these. The top two notes are mostly in fourths. In addition to the piano fill in the fourth measure also shown in our lead sheet, this part also has his fills in the seventh, eighth, and tenth measures of the head, as well as the second and fourth measures of the coda. All of these are chromatically descending lines, some also voiced in fourths.
Our Bass Part has the intro bass line written out. The melody is shown as a cue, with bass rhythms below the staff. The head begins with dotted half notes in the bass - a 1-feel—but goes to steady dotted quarter notes in the 5th through 12th measures. On our lead sheets these dotted quarter notes are described as a "2 against 3 feel" as they split the 3/4 measures evenly in half.
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- Recording: Dennis Irwin & James Williams - Focus
- Recorded on: December 6, 1977
- Label: Red Records (VPA 132)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: 3/4 swing (medium)
- Piano - James Williams
- Bass - Dennis Irwin
A bit slower than the "Everything I Love" version, this first recording of For My Nephews is interpreted a bit more freely in a piano/bass duo setting. The intro is the same as on our lead sheet, but in the absence of drums, the piano and bass fill in the rhythm with repeated notes. The coda tags the end of the head as in the lead sheet, but goes into a Gm7-C7 vamp afterward, ending on the latter chord.
Note: the lead sheets under each album cover are identical.
Note: the lead sheets under each album cover are identical.
For more from this album check out the first version of James' song Focus. James Williams and Dennis Irwin only recorded together from late 1977 to early 1979, mostly as members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. They also played together on Curtis Fuller's "Four On The Outside" in September 1978. "Focus" and "Everything I Love" were James and Dennis' first and last recordings together.
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- Recording: Clifford Jordan - Four Play
- Recorded on: March 5, 1990
- Label: DIW (8037)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: 3/4 swing (medium)
- Tenor Sax - Clifford Jordan
- Piano - James Williams
- Bass - Richard Davis
- Drums - Ronnie Burrage
This slow, gentle version of For My Nephews has a more involved arrangement than earlier recordings. It starts rubato, with James playing the second half of the head alone. Bassist Richard Davis then plays the melody, arco and still rubato with piano accompaniment. The piano and bass then set up tempo with a new eight-measure intro which alternates E♭7sus and E♭maj7 chords; drums enter on the fifth measure. James then plays the head in time. The coda is essentially the same as on the lead sheet, but with a dramatic ritard and break for the last melody phrase; an extra G minor chord is added at the end.
Saxophonist Clifford Jordan only appears on this song as a soloist, not playing on the in or out heads.
The "intro" on this recording (between the rubato bass melody chorus and James' melody choruses) is the intro in James' solo piano arrangement. Click on the last album cover (Kenny Drew, Jr.) for more details.
Saxophonist Clifford Jordan only appears on this song as a soloist, not playing on the in or out heads.
The "intro" on this recording (between the rubato bass melody chorus and James' melody choruses) is the intro in James' solo piano arrangement. Click on the last album cover (Kenny Drew, Jr.) for more details.
Recorded in Tokyo, this was James Williams' only recorded encounter with Clifford Jordan. Williams, Richard Davis, and Ronnie Burrage also did a trio album a month earlier titled "I Remember Clifford." "Four Play" was Jordan's last recording with Davis—they had recorded together for nearly 30 years starting with Eric Dolphy's classic "Iron Man" sessions in 1963.
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- Recording: James Williams - Jazz Dialogues: Vol. 2 - Focus
- Recorded on: December 2000 - January, 2001
- Label: Finas Music (102)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: 3/4 swing (medium)
- Piano - James Williams
- Bass - Ray Drummond
A bit slower than the first piano/bass duo recording of this song with Dennis Irwin, this version with Ray Drummond on bass has again a quite different arrangement. It starts with a very free, rubato solo piano interpretation of the second half of the head. This is followed by an eight-measure intro in time, as heard in the "Four Play" version, alternating E♭7sus and E♭maj7. James' phrasing of the head is slightly different at this slower tempo, with a bit more expressive interpretation. The coda here is closest to the version on "Four Play" with a ritard and break on the last melody phrase, but in this version the break leads back into time, with changes in a circle of fourths connecting Gm7 to D♭maj7. Again there is a hold on the D♭maj7 followed by another Gm7.
This later album titled "Focus" was one of four collections of duos James played with a wide variety of instrumentalists and vocalists, all recorded over a series of sessions in 2000 and 2001—these were to be James' last studio recordings as a leader. Other duo partners on these sessions include vibist Steve Nelson and saxophonist Billy Pierce.
The next recording of For My Nephews was by trumpeter Jim Rotondi on his 2005 album "Iron Man." This version is much faster than the others; it features a variation of the intro shown on our lead sheet, which reappears both as an interlude before the first solo and as the coda. Rather unusually there is no piano on this album—Steve Nelson on vibes covers the chord instrument role (coincidentally, Eric Dolphy's 1963 album called "Iron Man" also features vibes but no piano).
The next recording of For My Nephews was by trumpeter Jim Rotondi on his 2005 album "Iron Man." This version is much faster than the others; it features a variation of the intro shown on our lead sheet, which reappears both as an interlude before the first solo and as the coda. Rather unusually there is no piano on this album—Steve Nelson on vibes covers the chord instrument role (coincidentally, Eric Dolphy's 1963 album called "Iron Man" also features vibes but no piano).
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- Recording: Kenny Drew, Jr. - Kenny Drew, Jr. Plays Solo Piano Arrangements
- Recorded on: March 25, 2009
- Label: jazzleadsheets.com (JLS 1053)
- Concert Key: G minor
- Style: 3/4 swing (medium)
- Piano - Kenny Drew, Jr.
James Williams' solo piano arrangement features an intro completely different from the one on our lead sheet. It's a pedal intro that alternates E♭7sus and E♭maj7 chords (E♭13sus and E♭maj9(6)), closely related to the intros from the "Four Play" and "Jazz Dialogues: Vol. 2" versions but a bit more embellished. The ending is like the lead sheet but ending on a G minor chord, without an additional D♭ major chord.
Click on Piano Corner for more details.
Click on Piano Corner for more details.
"Kenny Drew Jr. Plays Solo Piano Arrangements" was recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.
Pianist Kenny Drew, Jr., was based in Florida but often traveled to New York for gigs. On one such trip, Don Sickler took advantage of Kenny's NY presence and took him out to Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs recording studio for a few days of solo piano recording. Kenny played solo piano arrangements written of Second Floor Music/jazzleadsheets.com compositions, mostly written by the composers.
Pianist Kenny Drew, Jr., was based in Florida but often traveled to New York for gigs. On one such trip, Don Sickler took advantage of Kenny's NY presence and took him out to Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs recording studio for a few days of solo piano recording. Kenny played solo piano arrangements written of Second Floor Music/jazzleadsheets.com compositions, mostly written by the composers.
This arrangement keeps up constant rhythmic motion between the melody and accompanying figures. The intro has a bass ostinato punctuated by two-handed chords on the "and" of 2 in each measure. The head has the melody line, bass line, and rhythmic chords in between that are passed between the left and right hands—sometimes both. These rhythms keep the groove going and should be played with a broad triplet swing feel, described in this arrangement as a 9/8 feel.
James Williams
Mar 8, 1951 – Jul 20, 2004
James Williams' distinguished career began in the city in which he was raised: Memphis, Tennessee. Having taken up piano at the age of thirteen, he graduated from Memphis State University in the early seventies and threw himself into his city's jazz community. Only a year after attaining his degree, Williams was hired as a professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Coming to a new city opened up an entirely new scene for the young pianist, who began to play as a sideman for visiting artists like Red Norvo, Art Farmer, Sonny Stitt and Milt Jackson. When Art Blakey met him in 1977, he convinced the then-26 year-old Williams to resign from Berklee and go on tour with the Jazz Messengers, a post he held for the next four years and with whom he would win a Grammy Award nomination for the album "Straight Ahead." Read more...