By Patte Purcell
Some musicians play in the inner circles of the smooth jazz field. One of those is ‘A List’ bass player Darryl Williams. From Euge Groove to Peter White, Darryl Williams plays bass for them all.
San Diego born bassist Darryl Williams began playing bass at the age of 13. Within 2 years he was playing at local clubs and events around the area. He opened for the smash R & B group, Lakeside. Williams was a regular on the SD music scene. In 1997, he moved to Las Vegas and performed regularly at all the top hotels and casinos with headliners and recording artists.
Darryl moved to LA from Las Vegas in 2007. He received a call from Ray “The Weeper” Fuller soon after he arrived and got a gig which included playing with super sax player Euge Groove. He was so impressed he asked Darryl to be his bass player. He’s played with superstars including Jeff Lorber, Jeff Golub, Michael Lington, Richard Elliot, Kenny Latimore, Jonathon Fritzen, Mindi Abair, Will Donato and many more. He toured with Mindi Abair and Euge Groove and is about to set sail on the Dave Koz cruise in February.
Dave Koz put together several bands for his cruises and one particular band, The L.A. Collective features Darryl, Greg Manning on keys, Tony Moore on drums and Rick Marcel on guitar. They’ve had so much fun performing together that they are doing other gigs as a band as well.
In addition to being one of the most sought after bass players in the industry, Darryl is also a recording artist. He released his first CD in entitled That Was Then in 2008. Two songs from that CD were featured regularly on Sirius Satellite Radio, Music Choice, Smooth Jazz.com and “Argentina” (also called Costa Rica) still plays on ‘The Weather Channel’. He received a great review on this CD from the Jazz Times Magazine and many other publications as well.
He is in the process of recording his new CD with several mega stars; it will be a combination of smooth jazz and R&B pushing the boundaries to funk. He hopes to release it in April.
Few musicians branch into doing their own events but Darryl does it with ease. He’s packing them in at the Darryl Willimas Jam session at two locations. The first one is held every Tuesday in San Diego at Felix’s BBQ from 7-11. Every week he features a guest who has a CD as a special artist. He does the same thing on Wednesday in Temecula at the Old Town Pub and Grub from 8 until midnight.
In addition to his own jams, Darryl will be performing his own tunes and as a core band member of the Celebrity Jazz Jam monthly series at the Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert. The first one is Monday Jan. 18 from 5-8 pm.
Darryl’s goal is to continue to do what he loves. His message to his fans is “I appreciate the support and look forward to bringing you great music.”
For more information on Darryl visit his site at www.darrylwilliamsmusic.com.
