Will Power – James Williams

Will Power is a great example of the economy and elegance of James Williams’ writing style. This song packs a lot of harmonic colors into a concise 16-measure form, with a lyrical, logical melody connecting the constantly shifting chord progression. There is no key center, but besides the first phrase, the melody seems to imply E♭ minor or A♭ minor; the final resolution is to A♭m(maj7). The last four measures of the head have rhythm section figures that go along with the melody.

The coda is a vamp on a four-measure repeat: two measures of solo on A♭m(maj7) followed by the last two measures of the melody. On this recording the vibes and tenor sax trade on these two-measure solo fills, and the vamp fades out. The other versions do not fade and instead end on the last chord; our lead sheet shows a fermata and fine here.

James Williams starts this recording with a rubato solo piano chorus. He sets up the tempo for the last four measures’ rhythmic figures for the other instruments to come in with the melody; this is where our audio excerpt begins. The head is twice in and twice out, with vibes and tenor in octaves. The rhythm section plays two-feel for the first melody chorus followed by four-feel; both out melody choruses are four-feel.

Note that both Bill Pierce and Joe Lovano (third album cover) play this melody in the tenor sax’s low register; thus our B♭ lead sheet is the same for tenor and trumpet.

This version is rather faster than the original (quarter note = 200) but has essentially the same form. James Williams again starts with a solo chorus, setting up tempo in the last four measures (where our audio clip starts) for a rare ensemble sound with four unison pianos on the melody. The four pianists trade on the coda, and the chord hits the last time slow down to the end.

This is a duo version, about the same tempo as the original quintet recording. There is no rubato intro; instead, James Williams starts with the last four measures to set up the melody. He doubles the melody (an octave above) with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. The melody is twice in but once out; the coda is repeated four times, with both players improvising together throughout until slowing down on the last two measures.