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Harold Ivory Williams Jr.

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Not to be confused with Ivory Williams.
For other people named Harold Williams, see Harold Williams (disambiguation).
Harold Ivory Williams, Jr.
Background information
Birth nameHarold Ivory Williams, Jr.
BornAugust 25, 1949
OriginBaltimore, Maryland, US
DiedJune 9, 2010
GenresJazz, jazz fusion, funk, soul, electronic, gospel, contemporary gospel, classical
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Piano, electronic keyboards Rhodes Piano, synthesizer, organ
Years active1960s–2010

Harold Ivory Williams, Jr. (August 25, 1949 – June 9, 2010.[1]) was a pioneer in the evolution of Contemporary Gospel music and Jazz fusion, most known for working with Miles Davis, Michal Urbaniak, MFSB, and the Rev. James Cleveland.

Biography

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Early Life

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Williams was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He was named after his father, Harold Ivory Williams, who was the senior prelate and one of the Patriarchs of the Mount Calvary Churches Of America and International. He had one sister, Hope Mason. After the death of his mother, Dr. Amanda E. Williams, his father married gospel music icon, Shirley Caesar-Williams. He was the god-son to Mahalia Jackson and his grandmother, Rev. Ethel Williams (the first ordained African-American woman in Baltimore, MD) [2] [3], who worked as an assistant to Marcus Garvey[4] during his historic movement. Williams started playing piano at three. A second-grade teacher told him he should try playing the clarinet because the piano was not working for him. But his family's rich history in music, primarily through his father Harold Ivory Williams Sr., an accomplished musician[5] himself,[6] who performed and recorded on the Apollo Label[7] with many Golden Age of Gospel icons[8] with his group the Ivory Gospel Singers[9][10] like Mahalia Jackson, Roberta Martin, Clara Ward, James Cleveland, to name a few, who made sure the young Harold mastered his craft through much training and performing at an early age, becoming a highly skilled and accomplished virtuoso, sought-after at a young age. By 22, he had written several copyrighted compositions and started his own music publishing company, "Blue Ray of Divinity".

Career

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Word got around in the Jazz and Gospel industry and he was invited by Miles Davis [11]to work on the On the Corner album, James Cleveland to work on several projects, and was hired as a member of the world-famous Philadelphia International in house band, MFSB.

Equally proficient in jazz, gospel music, and classical music, Williams, considered by many to be a virtuoso and a former student of the Peabody Institute, played an active role in the development of the jazz-fusion era, adding the unique element of Gospel music and Classical music on Jazz Fusion projects. An example of this can be heard on the intro of "Funky Row" on the John Lee & Gerry Brown album "Still Can't Say Enough" where Williams plays the Hammond B3 organ. Likewise, he was a frontrunner who infused Jazz techniques and his classical training with the evolving Golden Era of gospel music which help to birth the Contemporary Gospel era in the '70s, which can be heard on the James Cleveland: The Gospel Music Workshop Of America Mass Choir GMWA – Recorded Live In Detroit, Michigan track B1: "Ye that Believes in God", written and performed by Williams, and as a featured artist when the GMWA performed at Carnegie hall, he was the first to play the electronic keyboard Rhodes Piano in a Gospel performance.[12] That album won a Grammy.

Williams appeared as a featured artist and/or a composer on several Grammy-related projects as well as a sideman performing with many greats such as Miles Davis, James Cleveland, George Duke, MFSB Jean Carne, Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, The Three Degrees, and more. and other Gamble and Huff hits, Albertina Walker, David Liebman, John Lee & Jerry Brown, Michal Urbaniak, Urszula Dudziak,[13] Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Tony Bunn. In 1971, Gamble and Huff recruited Williams for the house band, MFSB of Philadelphia International Records label. Williams founded the group "Dialect", and they recorded a demo session for Philadelphia International Records and was to become the label's answer to the booming market in jazz/fusion music in the late 1970s. Gamble decided to use the band to back another of his artists, vocalist Jean Carne while grooming Dialect to spin off on its own. On the verge of international success, Williams was forced to stop due to a debilitating illness. He continued to play in the church until he died in 2010.

Select discography

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As Sideman

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  • Featured Electronic solo keyboardist at Carnegie Hall.[15]
  • Composer (title track)/vocal solo, James Cleveland: "I Give My All to You".
  • Featured acoustic piano I'm Going On, I Give My All to You album.

Awards

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As Composer

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Light'n Up, Please!, ℗ 1977, A&M Records, Released on: 1977-01-01

  • Zomar Land, Body English, ℗ 1976, Co-composer: Harold Ivory Williams, Jr.Michal Urbaniak.
  • Whatever is Right I'll Pay, Savoy Records, ℗ 1978, Genre: Funk / Soul, Style: Gospel, James Cleveland* Presents The Charles Fold Singers – Volume 3 Recorded Live In Cincinnati, Ohio (Is There Any Hope For) Tomorrow
  • Title track - I Give My All To You, ℗ 1980 Savoy Records, Released: 1980-09-18, Artist: James Cleveland and The Gospel Music Workshop Mass Choir Of America, Composer: Harold Ivory Williams, Jr., Music Publisher: Peermusic III Savgos Blue Ray of Divinity Music
  • Hymn Of The Uranian Sequels, Composed By – Harold Ivory Williams, BLUE RAY OF DIVINITY MUSIC, BMI, Michal Urbaniak's Fusion, Smiles Ahead, ℗ 2010, Released: 2010-03-11
  • Ye that Believe in God, ℗ 1980 Savoy Records, Inc.,

Released: 1980-09-18, Artist: James Cleveland and The Gospel Music Workshop Mass Choir Of America, Composer: Harold Ivory Williams, Jr., Music Publisher: Peermusic III LTD|Savgos Music, Inc.|Blue Ray of Divinity Music

  • Don't Look Back; w & m Ivory Junior, pseud. of Harold Ivory Williams, Jr. 1p. © Harold Ivory Williams, Jr.; 8May72; EUS29054
  • Evolve into Love; w & m Ivory, Jr., pseud. of Harold Ivory Williams, Jr. 1p. © Harold Ivory Williams, Sr.; 24apr72; EUS25367.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Herald Sun Obituaries. (2010, June 12). Archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20110927110157/http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/7907640/article-Obituaries--June-12--2010
  2. ^ Archives of Maryland, Volume 0512, Page 0021 - The FIRST COLORED Professional, Clerical and Business DIRECTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY 22th Annual Edition, 1934-1935. (1934). Maryland.gov; Maryland State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000512/html/am512--21.html
  3. ^ Archives of Maryland, Volume 0514, Page 0021 - THE FIRST COLORED Professional, Clerical and Business DIRECTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY 24th Annual Edition, 1936-1937. (1935). Maryland.gov; Maryland State Archives."Archives of Maryland, Volume 0515, Page 0027 - THE FIRST COLORED Professional, Clerical and Business DIRECTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY 25th Annual Edition, 1937-1938".
  4. ^ Garvey, M. (1930, March 15). Hon. Marcus Garvey outlines plan or race's economic, social, political advancement. Garvey Nation - the Negro World, 4. https://garveynation.com/site/documents/negroworld/NW_26.33_1930-03-15.pdf
  5. ^ Record Reviews. (1949). In Billboard History (p. 60). World Radio History. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1949/Billboard%201949-07-30b-OCR-Page-0060.pdf#search=%22rev%20harold%20williams%20and%20the%20ivory%22
  6. ^ Papenfuse, E. C. (1950). Baltimore Afro-American Paper [News Paper]. In Maryland State Archives. https://mdhistory.msa.maryland.gov/msaref14/msa_sc5458_000045_000261/pdf/msa_afro_1950_08_1951_08-0243.pdf
  7. ^ Robert. (2020, May 14). Apollo gospel discography (1946-62) on bless-this-soul . Bless-This-Soul; Generate Press. https://bless-this-soul.com/apollo
  8. ^ Boyer, Horace Clarence (2000). The Golden Age of Gospel. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06877-5.
  9. ^ The 78rpm-Club. (2023, October 28). APOLLO 100 – 316 / 350 – 542. The 78 Rpm Club. https://series.78rpm.club/apollo-100-316/
  10. ^ Zolten, J. J. (2022) pages 141,390. Great God A'mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds : Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Great_God_A_mighty/8pFwEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover&bsq=ivory%20gospel%20singers
  11. ^ Collaborators Search | Miles Davis Official Site. (2022, April 29). Miles Davis Official Site; Sony Music Entertainment. https://www.milesdavis.com/collaborators-search/?col_search=ivory
  12. ^ "Rev. James Cleveland". www.carnegiehall.org. 23 May 1977. Retrieved 2024-12-26.Carnegie Hall performance history search. (1977, May 23). Carnegiehall.org; Carnegie Hall Corporation. https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/History/Performance-History-Search?q=harold%20i.%20williams%20jr&dex=prod_PHS&event=22354
  13. ^ Whosampled. (2016). Papaya by Urszula Dudziak on WhoSampled. WhoSampled. https://www.whosampled.com/Urszula-Dudziak/Papaya/
  14. ^ Whosampled. (2016). Papaya by Urszula Dudziak on WhoSampled. WhoSampled. https://www.whosampled.com/Urszula-Dudziak/Papaya/
  15. ^ Carnegie Hall performance history search. (1977, May 23). Carnegiehall.org; Carnegie Hall Corporation. https://www.carnegiehall.org/About/History/Performance-History-Search?q=harold%20i.%20williams%20jr&dex=prod_PHS&event=22354
  16. ^ Grammy Award Nominees 1978 - Grammy Award Winners 1978. (2022). Awardsandshows.com. https://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1978-226.html.
  17. ^ Charles Fold Singers | Artist | GRAMMY.com. (2025). Grammy.com; Grammy Awards. https://www.grammy.com/artists/charles-fold-singers/9055
  18. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series. Part 5: Music Jan-June 1972: Vol 26 No 1 Sec 1-2 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (1972). Internet Archive; U.S. Government Print Office. https://archive.org/details/catalogofco1972326512unse/page/192/mode/2up?q=harold+ivory+william
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