James Gordon Williams

James Gordon Williams is an acclaimed composer and pianist whose performances span leading jazz clubs, concert halls, theaters, and international festivals throughout the United States and Europe. He has performed with distinguished artists including Terri Lyne Carrington and Anthony Davis, and has appeared at iconic venues including Birdland and the Village Vanguard. As a theatre composer, he has written music for Syracuse Stage’s production of Kyle Bass’s salt/city/blues. His transdisciplinary collaborations include projects with Crystal Z. Campbell, Maria Gaspar, Mariachi Eterno, Moor Mother, Fred Moten, Cauleen Smith, and Suné Woods. Williams is also the author of Crossing Bar Lines: The Politics and Practices of Black Musical Space (2021), and is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. Williams’ forthcoming album, Falling to Rise Again, will be released this year. The album is Williams’ musical meditation on resilience—the enduring capacity to move forward through life’s inevitable uncertainties. In jazz, “playing the changes” is more than navigating harmonic progressions; it is a metaphor for navigating life itself, improvising through its labyrinthine twists and turns in pursuit of growth, renewal, and survival. James Gordon Williams Website (Ticket Includes 5% City of Santa Cruz Admission Tax)