Biography

Leroy Williams (born 1937) is an American jazz drummer. Williams first began playing drums as a teenager in the 1950s. From 1959 to the middle of the 1960s he played with Judy Roberts, and following this he moved to New York City and played with Booker Ervin in 1967. In 1968 he played with Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, and Clifford Jordan; in 1969 he first began playing with Barry Harris, with whom he would collaborate often. 1970 saw him playing with Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, and Thelonious Monk, the latter of which he went with on a tour of Japan. Later in the 1970s he played with Yusef Lateef, Ray Bryant, Charles McPherson, Stan Getz, Andrew Hill, Sonny Stitt, Junior Cook, Al Cohn, Buddy Tate, and Bob Wilber. In the 1980s Williams played with Talk Talk, Art Davis, Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Steve Turre, and Bill Hardman. In the 1990s he performed with Anthony Braxton, Lee Konitz, Ralph Lalama, and Pete Malinverni. Most recently, he was a member of El Mollenium with Roni Ben-Hur, Bertha Hope, and Walter Booker.